Red Bull crisis continues in Bahrain

"Well, that's pessimistic!"

This was Sebastian Vettel's response when asked by Rachel Brooks of Sky Sports News whether double points for the season finale, which he has previously criticised, might now be a good thing for Red Bull given its far from flying start. The implication being that back-loading the season points wise might suit the team playing catch-up very nicely indeed.

It was a wittily-posed question, but one that captured the inescapable truth that Red Bull's struggles remains the story of pre-season testing. After all, the squad that has generally steamrollered the opposition over the past few years has now racked up the grand total of 35 laps in five days of pre-season following today's record haul of 14.

With more than 40 per cent of the available testing already in the history books, time is becoming an ever-rarer commodity for Red Bull.

"It is February," continued Vettel. "Yes, the season starts in four weeks but I think that's not fair, that's a bit too harsh. Obviously, it is not the start we were hoping for but still a long way to go."

During his media scrum shortly after running had ended in Bahrain, Vettel spent a lot of time reiterating that this definitely was not the start they wanted and that there was plenty of time. But he's no fool, and the situation is a reminder to everyone that getting to the front, and staying there, in F1 is profoundly difficult.

Red Bull and Vettel looked as though they were making progress...© XPB

In the past four seasons of world championship dominance, some critics have made out that Red Bull has had it easy. Thanks to its big budget, top quality facilities, a true great in Vettel and the magic of Adrian Newey, it's as if the team merely had to turn up and clean up.

But what has happened in pre-season testing so far proves that while these strengths might be a prerequisite of success, they are no guarantee. After all, F1 is incredibly difficult, which is why periods of dominance rarely stretch further than a few years.

The Red Bull 'crisis' has led to an outbreak of schadenfreude among rival teams wearied by years of dominance, not to mention the off-track political unpopularity, but its struggles have shown just how high the standards the outfit has set in recent times are.

Even 18 days between the end of the Jerez test and today's resumption of running in Bahrain did not give Red Bull, with all of its resources and know-how, enough time to get all of its problems nailed in time to hit the track when the pitlane opened. Even with the assistance of a delay caused by confusion about the staffing of marshals posts, the car did not emerge until the circuit had been open for a good four hours.

After a period when the most common noises emerging from the Red Bull garage appeared to be those of grinding or cutting, it wasn't until just before 2pm that Vettel finally took to the track. Shortly after, he did notch up a flying lap and went on to rack up a grand total of 14 before, to nobody's great surprise, stopping for good. The main problem appeared to be overheating rear brakes, which led to his red flag-triggering spin.

But don't make the mistake of assuming Red Bull hasn't been working hard. Parts arrived in Bahrain at the eleventh hour, and there were at least two bodywork options designed to give a conservative cooling package and one that was more optimised aerodynamically that was expected to be closer to the line.

There was not much opportunity to try them out, but for a car that seemed determined to ignite itself in the garage before even being sent onto the track at Jerez thanks to packaging problems, 14 laps was still progress.

...but there is still plenty of work for the champions to do © XPB

The full force of Red Bull has been focused on the car problems, which have come on top of the difficulties with the Renault engine. Then again, Renault head of track operations Remi Taffin made it abundantly clear that he considered today's lack of Red Bull running to be firmly down to the team.

"Basically, we were waiting for them in the day," said Taffin. "We went out when they decided to go out and we finished when they decided we finished."

All of this will give Vettel significant food for thought. He refused to bite on any of the questions he was asked about how worried he was. Instead, what really makes him uncomfortable is not knowing where the car stands in the pecking order. An unreliable but fast car, he can deal with. But a slow one? Not acceptable.

Beyond the fact that reliability has yet to be achieved, there is very little data to go on.

"It's more strange not to know how good the car is," he said when asked how he was dealing with the emotional rollercoaster of being in a team that is struggling after four years of almost continual success.

"We might have the best car, I don't know. We can say that it is not the most reliable now, but this is what testing is for. So far, there are zero points for everyone."

Vettel's right. Fundamentally, the Red Bull might be a damned good car. Fundamentally, the Renault engine might have the greatest ultimate potential.

Right now, it doesn't look like that, although as Vettel keeps saying it is early days. But if the past half-decade has taught us one thing, it's never to underestimate Red Bull.

Those queuing up to dance on the team's grave should be very mindful of that.