© Vladimir RysChristian's Column: 299 And CountingIn Christian’s latest column - who has been at every one of the Team's 299 GPs – he chats about the early years, plus his mixed experiences at the previous races in Istanbul.
There have been plenty of highs and some lows but we are proud of our achievements.
I am not normally one for landmarks but this one certainly stands out. It has been an incredible journey for the whole Team and it has all gone so quickly.
I vividly remember back to January 2005 when F1 held the Concorde Meeting. All the Team Principals were there and it was the first time I had attended.
I was only 31 and you had great characters like Bernie chairing the meeting with Max Mosley. McLaren's Ron Dennis and Martin Whitmarsh were there with their matching pens, folders and sharp suits. You had Flavio Briatore causing general chaos. Eddie Jordan was there, as was Jean Todt on behalf of Ferrari, Peter Sauber and Sir Frank Williams; certainly some big characters.
There was no real structure to the meeting and Bernie was throwing things into the ring that he had probably pre-agreed with Max before the meeting even took place.
There would be arguments between Ron and Flavio, and Jean Todt would agree to nothing. The meeting went on for hours and we achieved, well, not very much.
But at the end of it, everyone agreed what a fantastic meeting it had been! So I came out of that meeting a little confused, I was still trying to work it all out at that point.
David Coulthard On Track At Australia In 2005© Getty Images
Then we turned up in Melbourne for the first race, my first GP and the first for Red Bull.
Pink had played a concert that Red Bull had put on and in the race, we scored more points in our first GP than Jaguar had achieved for the whole of the previous year. I think I was being paid on points at the time, so I was pretty happy with that!
David Coulthard finished fourth, so it was a fantastic start for everyone in the Team and a great way to get Red Bull launched in Formula One.
10YearsSinceRedBullWereFirstCrownedChampions
It is incredible to think it has been 10 years since the Team won its first titles.
On November 14th 2010 in Abu Dhabi, Sebastian Vettel picked up the Drivers’ Championship trophy and Red Bull Racing clinched the Constructors.
Celebrating Our 2010 World Championship© Getty Images
Back then it would have been impossible to predict just how successful the Team were going to be from that moment on.
Going into the last race where four drivers had the chance to win the World Championship, with Ferrari's Fernando Alonso the clear favourite, was great for the sport.
We were more dominant in 2011, although 2012 was a real fight that again went down to the wire. While in 2013 it was a very strong year for us; it was the final year of the V8 engine and we celebrated our joint success with Renault.
Winning becomes like a drug and you become addicted to it and when you are not winning, it hurts. However, our goals today remain unchanged.
Mercedes have had an incredible run of success with their seventh world championship and you have to have a lot of respect for what they, and Lewis Hamilton, have achieved.
They have set the bar very high but it is something for us to strive towards and match. Sport is always cyclical and you want to make sure you are on the upward trend and always in the fight.
We have all our trophies on display at the factory and the ones I notice every day are the championship trophies.
We have all our trophies on display at the factory and the ones I notice every day are the championship trophies, they are the ones you want your name on and they remain the target.
The last time we were in Turkey was in 2011, we won with a fantastic four-stop strategy, but the year before we had a bit of a low moment with Sebastian and Mark.
That day was one of the most frustrating days where you are looking at a one-two finish and it goes to a third place and you've given your nearest rival a maximum score.
It was two guys racing each other hard. Mark had left just enough space and it was the beginning of their tensions.
Sebastian Vettel With Damage In Turkey 2010© Getty Images
Just two weeks earlier, we had finished one-two in Monaco. It was the highlight for the Team at that point and then two weeks later, we had one car in the fence and the other car wounded and only finishing third. You don't want your two main guys fighting each other and the last thing you need is tension.
After that race, we took the two of them to meet the children at Great Ormond Street Hospital to bring in a sense of perspective. It was so intense between the two, it was important to show that sometimes in life there are other challenges that are way more important.
However, I have always enjoyed going to Turkey. I remember the first race there in 2005 and our driver, who was hired for the week to take us to the track, proudly showed off a blue flashing light that he hoped would get us through the traffic quicker.
When we came to the traffic jam, he put on the flashing light and nothing happened. We were stuck, and then about 20 other cars put on blue flashing lights. It proved to be just an accessory, it did not get us very far.
There has been lots made of the 23 races on next year's calendar as we are seeing the demand for F1 races increase.
But when you look at the races this season, where we have 17 races between July and the end of the season, it has been pretty intense.
So looking at 23 races over a season compared to what we have done this year in such a short space of time, it looks a lot more straightforward.
Yes, there is a bit less testing in 2021 so that compensates fractionally, but it will be a challenge for all Team members. But it is a lot, and it will be demanding. Yes, there is a bit less testing so that compensates fractionally, but it will be a challenge for all Team members. Less so for the drivers as they fly in and out slightly later than the Team, but a lot for everyone else.
There are some great races planned, but of course it is on the limit of human tolerance.
We are approaching our 300th race but given the rate of races being added to the calendar, we could be having our 500th grands prix in just a few seasons!
Sustainability can be seen as a tricky subject for a sport that races fast cars around the globe, but that is exactly why we want to share our experience as a Team and emphasise the good work and also the challenges that everyone in modern society faces when trying to address climate change.
We are all increasingly aware of our carbon footprint and we are fully supportive of F1’s ‘Countdown to Zero’ campaign alongside our own ‘NO BULL’ sustainability drive as we partner with Gold Standard, which we hope will shed some light on the challenges we as a Team face while trying to tackle this important topic and also inspire others to make changes.
