The Athletic.

Rebel Racing is a powerhouse in Formula One today, having racked up multiple championships

and more than a hundred race wins since coming into F1 in 2005.

And we're going to kick off Series 8 of Bring Back V10s

by going back to that first season

after Red Ball bought Jaguar

and started putting the building blocks in place

for the F1 giant this team has become.

We'll look back at the team's modest expectations,

the gamble it took on a 31-year-old team boss,

its early reputation as the party team, and how it really got everyone's attention with a shock signing at the end of

its first year that has been key to everything it has achieved since.

Joining me, Glenn Freeman, for the start of the series, are Ed Straw and Ben Anderson. Ed, as usual,

you've volunteered for pretty much every episode in this series, so it only makes sense to have you

with us to kick things off. You know how this works by now. When you think of Red Bull Racing's

first season back in 2005, what's the first thing that comes to mind? Well, I tend to think back to just before that, when the car first ran, the first Red Bull, or the first Red Bull liveried, proper car ran, when they had the sort of the can on wheels look, the blue and grey. The drinks can. Yeah, exactly. It literally looked like a Red Bull can on wheels, which was a nice look. Obviously, it's not quite as coherent as the Red Bull look that's become iconic. But I always rather like that. I remember those pictures first arriving, I think probably it was in the Autoport Office at the time and seeing this new team. It did look very, very fresh, and at least it showed they were trying to tie it to their real product. But yeah, just for some reason, that particular car is always

in mind. So have a look online. I'm sure you'll be able to find some pictures of it. Yeah, I'm really fond of that livery. And we had a few shoutouts for that that we'll get to in a moment. Ben, good to have you here to try and help me keep Ed in check. What stands out for you about the beginning of the Red Bull journey.

Well, I have to say that

period in my life and following Formula One especially quite hazy because I was at university

at the time, so I was basically out a lot. And Red Bull, my relationship with it was alcoholic,

let's say. So them in Formula One didn't really pay too much attention. I'd kind of

fallen out of love with it a bit from 04 and the Schumacher steam roll. I was getting back into it by

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