Max Verstappen will defend his title in the new RB18.
Red Bull recently unveiled its all-new F1 car for the 2022 season. Along with the introduction of RB18, Red Bull also unveiled a new livery devoid of any Honda badges.
Honda left F1 racing at the end of the 2021 season but is still working closely with Red Bull. The British F1 team finally moved its engine department in-house. It's now part of a very exclusive club of manufacturers that do everything under one roof. Other teams blessed with this development dream include Ferrari and McLaren. And that's it.
The best thing about being a Red Bull driver is having any car you want, as the brand is no longer related to a car brand. That's likely why Verstappen is on the waiting list for a new Aston Martin Valkyrie.
The team is now officially known as Oracle Red Bull Racing, ensuring that the primary sponsor gets the attention it's likely paying millions for.
As expected, you can see all the changes demanded by the new regulations. If you put RB18 and RB16 side-by-side, you'll note the larger tires, winglets, and apparent changes to the front and rear wings.
The changes were made to ensure closer racing than ever before. The new aerodynamic setup reduces the amount of dirty air produced by the car in front and increases the front-end grip for the car behind.
Another significant change is to be found under the skin. From this year, the teams have to run a new fuel blend. The percentage of sustainable fuel has been increased from 5% to 10%. Red Bull was the first team to admit that it's struggling to get the same power from the engine, which remains unchanged from last year.
The returning champion, Max Verstappen, is amped for the new season. "I'm feeling recharged and ready to get driving again, I feel good and it's important that you prepare yourself in the best way possible physically, particularly when things are changing with the shakeup in regulations. In terms of the car, we don't know what to fully expect so I'm excited to see how the car behaves on the track for the first time. The biggest adaptation this season will be the new regulations, we'll need some time to get used to the car, it's not like you just jump in and it's an upgrade from last year. The rest is pretty straightforward, I don't feel any extra pressure this season, I will just do what I do all the time because I don't think there is any reason to be different. Now I just can't wait for that first moment when I drive out of the pitlane in the RB18."
"With the new regulation changes this year, the whole philosophy has altered from last year, which means every single component is different to last year's car. It's a clean sheet of paper for every single team. By the time we get to the first race, the RB18 won't look much like it looks today, the evolution will be very quick as we progress through the season. It is a steep learning curve for everyone and it is a race of development between the first race and the last race," said team principal, Christian Horner.
The 2022 pre-season testing begins on 23 February in Barcelona, Spain. This will be the first opportunity the drivers will have to get to know their new cars. A second testing opportunity will occur in Bahrain over the weekend of March 18 to 20, followed by the first Grand Prix (Bahrain) of the season a week later.
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