Tag Archives: Red Bull Racing

Automobiles

Rumormill: Toyota may return to F1 under Lexus banner

Leave a comment

By Seyth Miersma

Filed under:

A new report in from the website Club Lexus claims to have insider knowledge about a return to Formula One racing by Toyota, this time under the auspices of the Lexus brand. Toyota competed in F1 from 2002 through the 2009 season. That final year saw the team return competitive, if inconsistent results, but the larger economic woes in the automotive market made a decision to pull the plug relatively easy at the time.

Now, citing recent interviews with Toyota executives and insider sources, Club Lexus says that the move to re-enter F1 for the 2014 season is “all but finalized.” The choice to go with the Lexus nameplate over Toyota makes some sense, too, considering the success that rival Infiniti has had in recent years through its partnership with Red Bull Racing. Further, the emerging Lexus identity as a performance car builder, with a strong background in hybrid vehicles, could help the F1 move resonate with buyers.

A few technological factors and formula changes within F1 offer some credence to the Lexus rumor, too. F1 will increase the available capacity of KERS from 60kW to 120kW, a change that theoretically benefits the hybrid-savvy Toyota. What’s more, 2014 will see a switch from the current 2.4-liter V8 engines to 1.6-liter turbocharged V6s. A Lexus team that goes racing in 2014 will be on a level playing field with the rest of the grid then, with all teams adjusting to and continuing to develop the new engines.

Toyota may return to F1 under Lexus banner originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 03 Apr 2013 08:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | Email this | Comments

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Autoblog

Automobiles

Sebastian Vettel Named Infiniti’s Director of Performance, Director of Teamwork Position Still Open [2013 New York Auto Show]

Leave a comment

By Kirk Seaman

Vettel Named Director of Performance

Today at the New York auto show, Infiniti president Johan de Nysschen named Sebastian Vettel as Director of Performance for the Infiniti brand. Vettel, lead driver for Infiniti Red Bull Racing and three-time Formula 1 champ, already has been helping Infiniti imbue its models with more performance (starting with the Infiniti FX Vettel Edition and more recently with the new 2014 Q50 sedan).

Vettel’s input on the development of the Q50 was said to be significant, as he spent time with engineers in Japan to develop the sedan’s chassis dynamics, performance, and handling. Infiniti is seeking any and all ways to maximize its $250-million deal with Red Bull Racing, and Vettel is the most obvious way to do so. We speculated just a month ago that Infiniti might put a Red Bull Racing badge on an IPL or other Infiniti car, and naming Vettel as head of performance is possibly a step in that direction.

“I am really happy to extend my extend my relationship with Infiniti and become its Director of Performance” said Vettel. “Helping to develop the Infiniti Q50 was a very different type of driving duty for me but I approached it in exactly the same way as I do my Formula 1 car. I am looking forward to working closely with Infiniti in developing more of its road cars in the future.”

Clearly this move was well underway before the events of this past weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix, although you have to wonder if Seb will be a more cooperative Director of Performance than he is a Formula 1 teammate.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver

Automobiles

Future Infiniti IPL Performance Models to See Big Input from Red Bull Racing F1 Team

Leave a comment

By Justin Berkowitz

The outgoing Infiniti G37 IPL was never meant to be a direct challenger to heavy hitters like the BMW M3, just a warmer G, and it showed. (In fact, a source at Nissan once told us there was a relatively big “uh-oh” moment when the BMW 335is was announced.) With Infiniti now taking, well, everything seriously, that has to change. For help in making the next Infiniti Performance Line models competitive, the brand is turning to its new corporate partner—Red Bull Racing. Yes, that’s right—engineers and test drivers from the reigning world-champion F1 team.

Infiniti’s sponsorship of Red Bull Racing, then, is the $250-million gift that keeps on giving. Although plans for some engineering exchanges have been on the table since their relationship commenced in 2011, we’ve not heard much since then. Now that an initial period of awkward, “Do you like pizza? I like pizza” getting to know one another, has ended, senior execs on both sides say, the two organizations are really getting down to business. We’ll see the first, juiciest fruits of this collaboration on the upcoming Q50 IPL. We’re still not expecting a full-blown M3, but the result should be an extremely capable sports sedan.

To get a sense of what Red Bull can offer, one need only look at the Infiniti FX Sebastian Vettel edition. Far from a cynical marketing ploy to slap a driver’s name on a road car, Vettel himself took to track in a prototype version of the FX that was to bear his name. Speaking to the development team after his high-speed drive, Vettel was encouraged to be candid. Apparently, he was—and gave the folks from Infiniti a laundry list of improvements to be made. He returned months later and found that his suggestions had been incorporated.

There may even come a time when we see some indication of Red Bull Racing as a badge on an IPL or other Infiniti road car, we’ve heard. But the people running both organizations are very clear that they’d rather see genuine engineering collaboration on the road cars than logo stickers. We agree, especially since most Americans just know Red Bull as caffeinated sugar water. Unfortunately, IPL has even less recognition than that. But with a crew of Formula 1 specialists now getting deeply involved, IPL could become a household name—in households that subscribe to Car and Driver, at least—very soon.

…read more
Source: FULL ARTICLE at Car & Driver