30/03/2005
NEWS STORY
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One of the big surprises, if not the biggest surprise, of the opening two races of 2005 is Red Bull Racing, which is currently third in the Constructors' Championship, ahead of Ferrari, WilliamsF1 and McLaren, with drivers David Coulthard and Christian Klien both scoring points in both Australia and Malaysia - the only team to achieve this.
Much of this is down to the Cosworth engine in the back of the RBR1, which, as Pitpass reported before the season kicked off, has both the power, and more importantly, the reliability to allow the Red Bull drivers to 'mix it' with the big guns.
Looking ahead to Bahrain, which in some ways will be more demanding than Melbourne and Sepang, Pitpass asked Cosworth's Head of F1 Development, Alex Hitzinger, for his feelings regarding the first two races.
"The season start was very good for us, especially compared to previous years," says Hitzinger. "It was slightly surprising how competitive we were in Melbourne. Christian had a good battle with Kimi (Raikkonen) and David with Mark (Webber). Neither appeared to lack performance, which corresponds with the feedback we received. We didn't encounter any technical or operational problems throughout the whole weekend. However, one wouldn't expect problems in the first race weekend, if the engine has to do two.
"Malaysia was the real reliability test," he continues, "and I have to admit, I was very nervous. It doesn't matter how many successful race simulations have been carried out; going for the first time to 1200km under race conditions is a real thriller. There are always areas where you don't have the safety margin, which you would like to have and these are the areas you constantly think about during the last few laps.
"As in Australia, the Malaysia weekend was pretty trouble free and again we were competitive. We inspected the engines after Sepang and we are really delighted with the conditions they are in.
"The next two races bring other challenges," he admits. "Although the sand and dust in Bahrain was not a problem last year, with unfavourable conditions it could become a problem, in particular with the engines then being used in San Marino."
It's been a remarkable a start to the season for Cosworth, which only a few short months ago faced the real possibility of closing down following Ford's decision to withdraw from Formula One. However, since the purchase of the company by Kevin Kalkhoven and Gerald Forsythe, Cosworth has built upon the promise shown in 2004 and appears to be going from strength to strength.
"Overall, everybody at Cosworth is really pleased with our turnaround in F1," says Hitzinger. "These results help improve the motivation and the commitment of the work force, after a very difficult time, which is the basis for future success.
"It seems we coped better with the regulation change than some of our competitors," he continues, "but we have to keep working very hard on our V10 development programme to further improve our competitiveness. We are certainly on the right track and the things we have put in place over the last year are now starting to show their effect.
"The fact that we were able to cope better than others with the recent changes is quite encouraging for 2006, when we change to the V8's."
Cosworth has a long, hugely successful, tradition in Formula One and not only is it good to see the legendary name continue but seemingly in the ascendant, with many predicting a podium result in the not too distant future.