Red Bull

Welcome back to the final instalment of my Team History section. I sincerely hope you've enjoyed reading about the teams just as much as I have writing them, I also hope you discovered something you didn't know and that your Formula 1 knowledge is boosted!

As I draw this to a close it's important to state that after a long winter, we have finally come to the start of the 2013 season! Engines will start in Melbourne very soon and I pray we have an exciting season just like last year.

My blog this week is about the current stars of the F1 paddock and depending on your cynicism and naivety, this success can either be attributed to one individual or another. Never shared. But as most F1 stories, success did not happen overnight, where did it all begin for Dietrich Mateschitz Red Bull team?

STEWART GRAND PRIX

First Entered: 1997

Pole Positions: 1

Race Wins: 1

Points: 47

Constructors Championships: 0

Drivers Championships: 0

The Red Bull success story starts with a father-son business in the form of three time world champion Sir Jackie Stewart and his son Paul. The early form of the team was poor but in a rain effected Monaco Grand Prix, Rubens Barrichello managed a second place finish, but this proved to be a success from the elements as the feat was not achieved again until their final season when Barrichello took them to another three podiums. For a short lived and small team, they can boast a one race win from the European Grand Prix when Johnny Herbert after he inherited the win following multiple race incidents. 

JAGUAR RACING

First Entered: 2000

Pole Positions: 0

Race Wins: 0

Points: 49

Constructors Championships: 0

Drivers Championships: 0

Stewart's engine supplier Ford bought the team off the father-son duo and renamed the team after the British sports car manufacturer, a move which boosted Jaguar's sales and popularity. Even though they scored more points, Jaguar never achieved that race win, and they certainly had the talent to do it with Eddie Irvine and Johnny Herbert driving for them. Current Ferrari test driver Pedro de la Rosa had a race role with the team, achieving point finishes. 

This would also mark the first time when Mark Webber would join what would become his current team.

INFINITI RED BULL RACING

First Entered: 2005

Pole Positions: 46

Race Wins: 34

Points: 1864.5

Constructors Championships: 3

Drivers Championships: 3

The current crop of glory boys first joined F1 in 2005, and unlike most debuting teams they scored a double points finish. Fan favourite David Coulthard was the lead driver right up until his retirement which saw him paired up with Mark Webber for a few seasons.

The Milton-Keynes team was headed by Christian Horner since Red Bull re-branded Jaguar and was key to organising the early success, but the next two points are the debate about where the true success and glory comes from.

F1 genius Adrian Newey joined the team in 2006, the year which coincidently saw them grab their first podiums. It wasn't long until the momentum started picking up. Podiums became race wins, race wins accumulated to runners up in 2009, then 2010 saw them complete the double, a trend which has continued right up until the season gone by. 

RB9

The next point is about to cause a whole load of controversy  but I'm never one to shy away from the truth. 2009 saw the first race win, thanks to Sebastian Vettel the man who has since dominated the sport.

Why has he dominated? Be under no illusion, it's not all down to him. Puppet boy is only doing a job whereby you need to be able to handle a Formula 1 car. If you were to strip away any advantage and give a stock car to him and any other driver, I guarantee you you'll see just how average Vettel is. Why the disdain for Seb? I hated his dominance in 2011. People would retaliate with "Schumacher done the same." Well my reply to you sir/madam: "Schumacher was not a hateful little git despite what you may think." The seven time world champion did also not throw his toys out of the pram like our current world champion.

No matter what you think, Red Bull are a quick team, and something tells me their dominance is about to continue. But I cannot bring myself to accept the fact that puppet boy will fluke another four championships to bring himself level to Schumi, or even beat him. That would be disastrous for my love for the sport. This season, they have a lot more resistance and I don't he can make it to four.

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Lotus

Welcome back to my special one off blog detailing the past identities of the current Formula 1 teams. We've been slowly working our way up the grid and now we come to a team close to my heart. Lotus have an historical impact on the sport dating back to the 50s. The history can also be confusing to some new readers, for instance in  2011 Lotus actually had four cars on the grid! You can clear your confusion here.

It is important to stress that the Team Lotus who competed from 1958 to 1994 have no connection with the current Lotus. This is because the two history's would overlap and intertwine with each other. This being said, it is important to mention just what a history is in the name. Throughout the years the team won 7 constructors championships, ranking them 4th overall behind Ferrari, Williams and McLaren. Five drivers have gone on to win World Championships while driving a Lotus car including; Jim Clark twice, Graham Hill, Jochen Rindt (posthumously), Emerson Fittipaldi and Mario Andretti. The name is a well established and respected one, with previous drivers such as Sir Stirling Moss, Nigel Mansell, Nelson Piquet, and Ayrton Senna (pictured). 

In my eyes, as a British racing car fan and a British F1 fan, Lotus are really our Ferrari. The McLaren and die hard Williams fans are going to grab their pitchforks but they really are just as important. The founding father Colin Chapman was an innovator, so much so that he influenced the minds of Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey. British Motorsport owes a lot to Lotus and where they excelled us to where we are today. 

TOLEMAN

First Entered: 1981
Pole Positions: 1
Race Wins: 0
Points: 26
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0




Toleman were a British based team who raced from 1981 until 1985, and were far from successful. In their first season they failed to qualify for their first 9 races and only finished one grand prix that whole year. Things did not improve until the 1983 season where they managed to scrape 10 points together. What Toleman should be remembered for however, is the first team to award a drive to the (already mentioned) legend that is Ayrton Senna.

BENETTON


First Entered: 1986
Pole Positions: 15
Race Wins: 27
Points: 851.5
Constructors Championships: 1
Drivers Championships: 2




After taking over from Toleman as sponsors, Benetton slowly but surely asserted their mark on F1 early on. In their first season, Gerhard Berger scored two podiums, including a race win in Mexico, his first and the teams. Drivers such as Nelson Piquet, Jean Alesi and Jenson Button have all driven for this team, but the greatest success came in the form of the most successful driver in Formula 1 history. 7 time World Champion Michael Schumacher won the first of his two world championships back-to-back with in the team in 1994-1995. The team can also boast a talented technical staff with big names such as Flavio Britatore, Ross Brawn, Mike Gascogyne, Pat Symonds and Pat Fry. The team soon full into a slump and was bought over by our next name in 2002. 

RENAULT


First Entered: 2002
Pole Positions: 51
Race Wins: 35
Points: 1006*
Constructors Championships: 2
Drivers Championships: 2





*only the years from 2002-2011

Jenson Button continued driving for a year alongside Jarno Trulli but was replaced by Fernando Alonso in 2003 following his year out after Minardi. The fortune from the move came very very soon as in the 2005 and 2006 season, Alonso and the team completed the championship double, ending Michael Schumacher's Ferrari dominance. The Renault team became hugely popular during these times, but the very foundations that team boss Flavio Britatore had put in place to form these championship wins soon fell through.

In 2009, Crash-Gate came to our attention following Nelson Piquet jr's childish ways in un-earthing the dirt surrounded Fernando Alonso's victory in Singapore during its inaugural race in 2008. The scandal put a cloud around the Renault name that would sour in our memory for years.

In 2011, Lotus (who already had a Team Lotus on the grid since 2010) completed an advertising deal with Renault which would re-name the team Lotus-Renault. Following the decision, Team Lotus and Lotus-Renault reached a decision to clear up the remaining confusion, Team Lotus would become Caterham (due to their boss buying Caterham Cars) and Renault Lotus would simply become Lotus.

LOTUS


First Entered: 2012
Pole Positions: 0
Race Wins: 1
Points: 303
Constructors Championships: 0
Drivers Championships: 0







In 2012, Lotus hired Kimi Raikkonen after a two year absence, a move which made the majority question. But The Iceman proved everybody wrong, he had a phenomenal season leading to a few calling him driver of the year. Following his ice cool messages and race win during Abu Dhabi, he reminded us all why we love him. The Enstone factory and the team around him provide him with a relaxed yet motivated platform, something which his former employers Ferrari and McLaren failed to provide. This is the key to Raikkonen's success and he will be one to watch during 2013.

His team mate Romain Grosjean, not so much. In 2012 Grosjean had 10 crashes, 7 of them first lap and won which cased him to get banned for one race. He'll need to improve dramatically, he has the talent and the pace, just not the head.

What's remarkable about the car is that on the body you can see 3 stars which represent the 3 constructors championships. This shows a respect and fond memory of their history while still moving forward in amazing strides. Lotus are my favourite team because I love Kimi and I love the passion of the Lotus team. The future holds many bright moments for us, 2013 will be the beginning.