Newey: no compromises with RB4

The team unveiled their evolutionary new contender at Jerez in Spain this morning and chief technical officer Adrian Newey claims they have been able to be just as aggressive in chasing speed with the car as they were with its predecessor.

That was because analysis of the issues that overshadowed last year's campaign showed the reliability problems were not related to Newey's design being too focused on speed.

"I don't think the reliability problems came as a result of chasing performance," said Newey. "They came through detailed design, manufacturing and operations faults. And the reliability systems couldn't cope.

"We haven't had to make any compromises in that respect. It is just a matter of understanding why things were failing, and what was breaking down in the system to cause them."

Newey thinks that the reliability problems of 2007 were mostly the result of the team stepping up the standard of their Formula One machinery.

"The RB3 was a completely different car to anything that had come out of Milton Keynes before," he said. "And that, in a small part, contributed also to our reliability and operations difficulties.

"It was a more complicated car than its predecessor and that caused some problems internally, just learning how to operate it.

"This car is very much an evolution of RB3. There are very common parts, but the concept and principle of the car is the same. It is an evolution, so it will make it easier for the team this year as they have learned how to work with it."

In fact, rather than go for a more simple design in 2008 to overcome the reliability issues, technical director Geoff Willis claims the team have actually upped their detail with the RB4.

"The car is actually more complex in its design," explained Willis. "We've done a better job.

"There are a significantly larger number of drawings issued for this car which reflect the fact that we have been looking at all the problem areas and have a proper design solution. So we think we understand the issues.

"We've dealt with those by doing a much more refined design so, although it is quite clearly an evolution, in terms of the detail it is a significant step forward from RB3 to RB4 in terms of how much we are trying to control it - so it is what we want, not what arrives.

"If you are in control of the design and manufacture then you have a much better chance to sort out reliability."