New rules in place for the 2009 season required cars to have narrower and higher rear wings and wider and lower front wings, designed to reduce air disturbance to following cars and hence make overtaking easier. Slick tyres were re-introduced into Formula One, after being absent since 1998. This was expected to increase the RB5's tyre grip by about 20%. There was a possibility that the RB5 could feature a Kinetic Energy Recovery System, which would allow energy which would otherwise be wasted while braking to be re-used in set amounts per lap, via a boost button on the driver's steering wheel. This was the result of new rules for the 2009 season. Red Bull originally attempted to develop their own system, but a factory fire resulting from overheated batteries stalled progress. In January 2009 Red Bull announced that they would use an identical KERS system to the Renault team, in an extension of the existing customer engine deal between the teams. However the RB5 never did race with KERS.
2009 season
Launch
The RB5 was launched later than most of its rivals, to allow a longer development time at the expense of a shorter testing time. Red Bull expected the RB5 to be more competitive than its predecessor, the RB4, which achieved a single podium in 2008. Vettel was optimistic when questioned about the car's potential: Sebastian Vettel, who makes it a habit to name his racing cars, named his Red Bull RB5 'Kate' and after crashing it at Melbourne's Albert Park, he named his new chassis 'Kate's Dirty Sister'.
Testing
Initial tests of the RB5 at Jerez were halted when high gearbox oil temperatures were detected. When the issue was resolved the RB5 was the quickest 2009 specification car at Jerez, where Vettel was faster than the equivalent Williams, McLaren and Renault cars. Webber returned to the cockpit after breaking his leg while cycling in November 2008; he completed 83 laps in the RB5, around the distance of a Grand Prix, and reported no problems whilst lapping faster than Vettel the previous day.
Season performance
Early in the season the car showed huge performance with Vettel taking the first win for the team in China with Webber in second place giving the team their first 1-2 ever. As the season progressed the car continued to show its pace and by the mid-season its pace had increased to the point where it had overtaken the Brawn BGP 001 as the fastest car on the grid.
Complete Formula One results
Year
Entrant
Engine
Tyres
Drivers
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Points
WCC
Red Bull Racing
Renault RS27 V8
AUS
MAL
CHN
BHR
ESP
MON
TUR
GBR
GER
HUN
EUR
BEL
ITA
SIN
JPN
BRA
ABU
153.5
2nd
Red Bull Racing
Renault RS27 V8
Webber
12
6
2
11
3
5
2
2
1
3
9
9
Ret
Ret
17
1
2
153.5
2nd
Red Bull Racing
Renault RS27 V8
Vettel
13
15
1
2
4
Ret
3
1
2
Ret
Ret
3
8
4
1
4
1
153.5
2nd
Driver failed to finish, but was classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.
Half points awarded as less than 75% of race distance completed.
