New livery, same struggles? Red Bull F1 expects ‘tough year’

Nonetheless, after committing to another season, Red Bull heads into 2016 with a relatively unchanged package, its rejected requests for Ferrari and Mercedes power units leading it to continue honouring its agreement with Renault in a deal that will see the engines rebranded as TAG Heuer. “It’s probably going to be a season of two halves, the first half is going to be less competitive than the second, but we’re expecting to make significant progress during the year”.

“It feels like a new era for the team with a sharp new livery – it’s going to be distinctive, it’s going to stand out on-track”, he said.

“The problem is everybody makes progress so we know what progress we’ve made and we know what progress Renault has made”. Ricciardo joined the team in 2014 and is the last Red Bull driver to secure a victory, doing so three times during that campaign.

“It’s going to be a season of evolution for us”.

“We are hoping to make similar gains throughout the year but obviously the chassis is going to have to prop that up”.

“I think it’s sensible, rather than getting us excited for nothing”, he said.

Seeing our new livery for this year alongside our new team wear from Puma was a proud moment for us.

“I think it would be foolhardy to write a team off with the calibre of people that Red Bull has in it”.

“I think if we’re to start with very little improvement from past year, I think Toro Rosso will be competitive in relation to us over the first few races”, Motorsport.com quotes him as having said during Wednesday’s livery launch.

Winners of four drivers’ and constructors’ titles between 2010 and 2013, Red Bull’s relations with Renault frayed badly past year as their engine proved underpowered compared to champions Mercedes and Ferrari.

Meanwhile, Horner confirmed that despite taking a step back, technical guru Adrian Newey is still involved in the F1 project.

And, like Renault, they opted to do so using last year’s vehicle, the RB11. “It is still a blend that works extremely well”.