Formula 1 World Champion team Red Bull has released photographs of its 2012 season challenger and eighth F1 car, the RB8. Two time World Champion Sebastian Vettel will now try to defend his title with this car, though he still has to make up his mind for the nickname he'll give it. The car looks similar to last year's iteration, though it has the stepped nose cone, just like Ferrari's latest. Red Bull is considered to be the team most negatively affected by the new technical regulation changes.

It was particularly hit by the ban on the arrangement of its exhaust system that gave it an advantage over the competition. "It's the fourth evolution of the RB5 this year, so obviously the pressure is to try and stay there if we possibly can," said Adrian Newey the team's technical director. "It's a difficult task, we have lost the exhaust technology with the restriction exhaust outlet position that we were able to develop and perhaps be ahead of the pack on in the last couple of years, that led to a big re-think over the winter. We designed the RB7, last year's car, around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so."

Newey said that the other major change to the car is the height of the nose. "The restriction nose height which is a maximum height just in front of the front bulkhead hasn't really changed the chassis shape very much." said Newey. "We've kept more or less the same chassis shape, but had to drop the nose just in front of the front bulkhead, which, in common with many other teams, has led us to I think I'd probably say a slightly ugly looking nose. We've tried to style it as best we can, but it's not a feature you would choose to put in were it not for the regulation."