Could Red Bull start on back foot in 2013?

Could Red Bull Racing be set to play catch-up once again next season?

In 2012 after winning both the constructors titles and drivers titles in 2010 and 2011 with Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull started the 2012 Formula One World Championship slowly.

Red Bull could only watch on as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes took the wins during the opening three races. Race four, Bahrain and Vettel took his first win of the season.

But whilst Mark Webber won for Red Bull at Monaco and Britain, Sebastian Vettel had to wait until Singapore [nine races] to win again.

He of course went on to win four consecutive races which was a run of form so strong to go on to win his third consecutive F1 crown and Red Bull's third constructors title.

With the title chase going right down to the wire and the final race of the season, Red Bull and Ferrari both had to chase new developments on their cars to make sure they didn't lose ground to each other.

Red Bull design chief Adrian Newey now fears that chasing so hard in 2012 will mean that their 2013 car may not be up-to-speed as quickly as other teams who will have started their preparations for the new season earlier.

'We were introducing developments to the car right up to the penultimate race. That has made it difficult to introduce all of those and simultaneously develop the next [2013] car.' he told Autosport Magazine.

'If I'm honest, this has compromised the timescales of the new car more than we would have liked, It was the right trade at the time, because we managed to get the job done but it means a busy winter trying to catch up again.'

Meanwhile the BBC have reported that Red Bull are yet to confirm whether or not they will be ready for the first winter test in Jerez.

Formula One testing begins on February 5th in Spain.