RED BULL RACING-FERRARI

RR: So on to Red Bull Racing, for me the surprise of 2005, but things haven't been going so well in testing have they?

NDR: No, not now at least anyway. At the beginning it seemed - it seemed I hasten to emphasise - that everything was looking rosy, then we find out otherwise. Last year they were impressive, but I always insisted that this season would be nowhere near as good, that they'd have serious problems. And so they are. Remember, Jaguar designed that car - but at least now with Newey, Prodromou and whoever else they took out the back cupboard could help them move forward, but they haven't been around long enough to come into any quantifiable effect yet.

RR: Well you have to remember that Newey and Prodromou have designed this year's McLaren, and not this years Red Bull. This year's Red Bull is the first car designed by that team, and therefore you would in some sense expect some problems. They seem to have had some cooling issues, that being the main issue. The rumour is while Ferrari have supplied engines, they haven't instructed Red Bull about how to properly cool the engine

NDR: Yeah. Sauber allegedly had those issues too with the mother company. It was why Sauber had all those problems and Ferrari didn't. Integration of the engine was not all that good either it has to be said.

RR: Yeah, and I think leaving Cosworth is going to be a mistake. If the V10 formula had continued into this year I would have said the Ferrari deal was a shrewd move. But, no-one knows how to build a V8 engine better than Cosworth, and they were first supplier to test a V8 on the dyno, and have looked good on track. I hope Red Bull haven't committed a costly error.

NDR: They might well have - they need much more stability at this point in there making, and with all these changes they are making the same mistakes as Jaguar. At least they have driver stability but for how long. The Cosworth sounds absolutely stonking - i be watching out for that one above all the engines. 20,000 revs. If they were willing to give that up - and they would have known to, before they made decisions, they were either looking for strengthening bonds with FIA and Ferrari, and less so on competitive advantages.

RR: I think that's pretty much what the case here is. But having said all that, the Ferrari will certainly be no slouch when it comes to outright speed, and in the hands of David Coulthard, and Christian Klien, they have a very capable driver line up as well.

NDR: I think Ferrari will have one of the strongest engines - no doubts at all on that front. Most reliable maybe - not so sure on that one based on some other issues, and we'll have to see if it is faster than the Hondas, Renaults and Cosworths in particular. BMW engine is supposed to be pretty hot too. It will be extremely drivable though, that is a given. DC will lead the team again, Klien might be more rounded this time, he improved a lot last year, and i think may even outperform him on several occasions, maybe all. He didn't get a fair crack last year with the Liuzzi thing.

RR: What do you see in 2006 for Red Bull?

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