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Horner hopeful on 'different' approach

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner is hopeful that the squad's different approach to their 2009 car design will pay off this year

Red Bull unveiled on Monday their RB5 challenger, designed by a team led by Adrian Newey, who said this year's regulation changes had been the biggest in over 20 years.

The changes have given designers the possibility to build their cars from scratch, and Newey has opted for significant design differences compared to the other 2009 machines unveiled already.

Horner believes that could give Red Bull the edge.

"With such a big regulation change, it is quite interesting the different approaches that the teams have taken," Horner told reporters at Jerez. "Strategically, we decided to take a little bit more time in the tunnel and always focused on launching today.

"Adrian and his team have done a stunning job, the car looks excellent and hopefully that will translate into laptime.

"It's obvious that the approach we have taken is somewhat different to other teams and only time will tell. It will only be Melbourne before we see where the teams are in the pecking order."

He added: "His (Newey's) interpretation of the regulations has been slightly different to the other teams. The car looks fantastic, but the bottom line is how it runs on the track. We've got a good basis.

"He will never be totally happy, but I know that he's reasonably happy with the way that things have gone during the last six months. Time will tell."

The car will be driven by Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, who joins the team from Toro Rosso, with whom he became the youngest ever race winner last year.

Webber has been the dominant driver at Red Bull in past seasons, but Vettel looks set to pose the toughest challenge he faces yet.

Horner reckons the battle between the duo will be thrilling to follow.

"It's going to be fascinating to see how that evolves," Horner said. "There's not many drivers to rival Mark over a single lap. He's got a bit of a challenge as he's getting back to fitness.

"It's probably going to be swings and roundabouts during the course of the year but ultimately they will push each other very hard and bring the best out of each other.

"We're very happy with the driver line-up. They get on well. The most important thing is the net result for the team of having two competitive cars."

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