Important day for Verstappen: all about Red Bull's RB18 unveiling

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F1 News

9 February 2022 at 07:32
Last update 9 February 2022 at 12:19
  • GPblog.com

It's time for the launch of the RB18 which Max Verstappen will be hoping to defend his World Championship crown in. With a whole new set of regulations in store it is going to be a fascinating season, but here's all you need to know about the Red Bull challenger.

New F1 regulations

In 2022, all teams must design a car that complies with the completely new set of regulations for the coming year. These new regulations also mean that the cars will look completely different. A new generation of cars, and so the question is who will get the best start here.

Although Red Bull Racing won the last drivers' world title, the previous generation was dominated by Mercedes. This was mainly due to the supreme hybrid engine introduced since 2014, but the Germans' car was also unbeatable every year. Only in 2021 could Red Bull mount a real attack and Max Verstappen won the world title.

Can Newey build another championship car?

The engines remain the same for 2022, but with a new set of regulations, there is a huge opportunity for teams to make a jump in the rankings. According to Ross Brawn, there are hardly any chances for the engineers to come up with a golden egg compared to the competition, but previous rule changes already showed that anything can happen in such a year.

So for Red Bull it is an important year. The past two years have shown that the Honda engine is competitive enough to win races and even compete for the world title. That engine remains the same, so everything comes down to the design of Adrian Newey and his team. The main question is how much the title fight in 2021 has affected the preparation for 2022.

Haas was the first team to present its car, and it was immediately noticeable that this was a livery unveiling. Teams, with so many new opportunities to develop your car, don't want to give anything away to the competition. The car shown by Haas was therefore a 3D render.

What we see of the RB18

For Red Bull it is also expected that a computer model will be used. Helmut Marko said earlier that this unveiling was more for fans and sponsors than that there would actually be a car ready for use. Red Bull will wait until the very last moment again in 2022, in order to develop the car until the very last moment.

Where can the Red Bull presentation be followed?

However, Red Bull's unveiling will show the car's new livery and who knows, there may be some details in the model after all. Sergio Perez, Max Verstappen and Christian Horner will also be present at the unveiling and will do a word ahead of the upcoming season. All of this can be followed live at GPblog.

On GPblog's YouTube channel the live stream of Red Bull Racing's unveiling starts at 3:45pm. This livestream can also be found on the GPblog website on Wednesday afternoon. After the unveiling, all photos, interviews and reactions will appear first on GPblog. So make sure you keep a close eye on the website so you don't miss a moment.