Red Bull Racing, the big brother of Scuderia Toro Rossa, will be racing with the RB5 in 2009. This is certainly one of the most beautiful cars of the 2009 season, stretching the regulations probably as far as the can go. The team will be racing with the Renault engine, gearbox and KERS system. While this setup was inferior to the Mercedes and Ferrari units used in the front-running teams, it has been upgraded within the engine freeze regulations to be equivalent to the other powertrains.

The car uses a very unique rear suspension setup, last seen decades ago. In essence, the RBR’s setup is upside-down compared to the other teams, resulting in a much lower and tightly packed rear section of the car. This will lower the center of the gravity, while drastically clearing up the rear bodywork, resulting in improved airflow over the rear wing.

The team will be employing Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber as drivers. Sebastian Vettel scored his maiden victory in 2008, in the smaller STR team, and has been tipped by many (including world champion Lewis Hamilton) to be a future F1 superstar. He is still very young, and will surely perform even better in the bigger and more professional RBR. Mark Webber on the other hand has shown that he is more committed than ever to perform at his possible best in F1. Webber was in a biking accident in early December, breaking his right leg and putting his 2009 F1 drive in doubt. However, he has worked extremely hard to be fit for the start of the season, and he is currently doing even better than his doctors thought he will. He has a vast amount of experience in F1, and although it is doubtful whether he will ever win a championship, he will prove to be a huge asset the team.

RBR is a true dark horse for the 2009 season. The dramatic design of the car will either work extremely well, or it will backfire. However, this seems increasingly unlikely, as it seems that RBR is capable of at least keeping up with the front runners in pre-season testing. Together with two extremely motivated and talented drivers, RBR may cause a lot of headaches for the front-runners.