Red Bull’s real 2022 Formula 1 car has broken cover at pre-season testing in Spain.
The RB18 was ‘launched’ two weeks ago in what was nothing more than a livery reveal for new title sponsor Oracle, using an F1 show car.
Red Bull’s actual RB18 subsequently completed a shakedown at Silverstone that – unlike every other team that used such a promotional event – Red Bull released no images from, although it is understood the team completed minimal running there.
At Barcelona on Wednesday, the first of a three-day test that has the 2022 cars running in anger for the first time, Red Bull’s new design finally came out of hiding, driven out of the pits by reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
It confirms suspicions from leaked imagery from Silverstone that Red Bull, like McLaren, has opted to reverse the suspension set-up convention of recent years and chosen a pullrod front suspension and pushrod rear suspension.
Unsurprisingly, Red Bull has also come with another unique interpretation of the sidepod design.
It has an extreme undercut that is an extreme version of the ‘twin-floor’ style solution, where the sidepod and main underfloor are not connected.
Sergio Perez will take over on Thursday before Verstappen completes half a day on Friday and Perez concludes the week’s running.
