Red Bull crisis returns with force in Bahrain (Update)

UPDATE

The Red Bull lemon is pushed back into the garage having not even made it to the end of Pit Road

After a positive second day at this week’s final test in Bahrain, Infiniti Red Bull Racing suffered another setback today, with the team and Sebastian Vettel restricted to the garage for the bulk of the day.

"At the moment we obviously have lots of different problems we are curing," said Vettel. "It’s not the best situation to be in but we can’t change it. Everybody is extremely motivated to fix it, but it doesn’t happen overnight. We can just hope for a better day tomorrow and then to have a decent start to the season in Melbourne but at this stage obviously reliability is still a big question mark. It’s difficult to say how long it will take to remedy. I think some things will just come down to the fact that in two weeks’ time we’ll have lots of new parts on the car. We’ve had some damage because of the problems we’ve had here and the parts aren’t available overnight, so from that side I think things will get better over the next couple of weeks. We obviously haven’t done much running but from the little we have done has been quite promising, so I think once we get going the speed should be OK."

We brought the car back, identified the issue, which is one other teams have had but which hadn’t affected us so far, and set about fixing it. We got ready for another run but this time the car stopped in pit lane. We brought it back again and discovered a leak, which we thought we could fix but it turned out that it had caused enough damage that we weren’t able to go out again. Having run so well yesterday it is frustrating to have had these problems today, but all we can do is keep solving the issues."

A pensive Vettel contemplates the lemon he has to drive this year

03/01/14 (GMM) The worry lines at Red Bull eased temporarily on Friday, as Daniel Ricciardo had a better deal at the wheel of the troubled RB10.

"A big improvement everywhere," said the Australian driver in Bahrain, "and a much more optimistic outlook now I think."

The optimism, however, was short-lived, as the Renault-sponsored gremlins returned with a vengeance on the penultimate day of pre-season running in Bahrain.

Sebastian Vettel hardly turned a lap all Saturday.

But McLaren's Jenson Button says he has sensed some pace from the reigning world champions.

"When they do get reliability, if they do, they'll be very competitive," he said.

Ten days into the winter, a clear pecking order is emerging, and Mercedes is right at the very top.

It appears Vettel is saying to Christian Horner, "How do you expect me to race that piece of junk?"

Lewis Hamilton, however, is rejecting the favorite tag.

"We have a strong package but I don't feel we are guaranteed to be the guys ahead," he said.

But rival big-hitters Ferrari and McLaren are clearly not quite on the Brackley team's pace.

"We need more downforce," Button conceded. And Ferrari's Fernando Alonso admitted the new F14-T "could be better in both performance and reliability".

The situation is giving the other two Mercedes-powered teams, usual midfielders Williams and Force India, an opportunity to scoop up big points at the start of the season.

"At this test the Mercedes is still as quick as it was, and the Williams too, but you also now have the Force India that is competitive," said Button.

Ousted McLaren driver Sergio Perez, now at Force India and quickest on both Thursday and Friday in Bahrain, said: "Right now everything seems possible."

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