3. Red Bull-Renault (2014)
As we’ve gathered from these first three entries, pre-season testing in F1 is often headlined by a shock presentation of unexpected speed. There have been a few occasions where the opposite is true. Red Bull were the dominant force in F1 from 2010-2013, sweeping every single championship in a period of dominance on a par with that of Ferrari a decade earlier.
Red Bull had been so far ahead of the rest in 2013 that the suggestion that anyone could possibly challenge was laughable. The 2014 season did however throw a substantial curveball into the mix, and it proved to be the cause Red Bull’s startling downfall.
The introduction of the new V6 hybrid engines was a huge step for the sport and its teams, a massive technical undertaking that required substantial investment and research. Such complex devices were sure to have teething problems, but no team struggled more than Red Bull with its Renault powertrains.
There was an overriding theme during the three tests: a series of stoppages, which more often than not were caused by a Red Bull breaking down on track. The Renault engine proved to be horribly unreliable, with severe problems that also hindered performance. Fortunately for Red Bull, those testing struggles appeared worse than they would ultimately prove to be. The team still managed to finish second in the constructors’ championship, albeit almost 300 points behind F1’s new dominant team: Mercedes.