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Red Bull has revealed the first real part of their new car that Max Verstappen will use for his title defense in 2022.
The Milton Keynes-based outfit has 3D-printed new wheel covers for the upcoming season, which was shared by a fan on social media.
While all teams will be installing covers akin to the ones shown above, a follow-up tweet showing the serial number being used confirms they belong to Red Bull.
The RB18 was revealed to the public on February 9. During the launch event, team principal Christian Horner confessed he expects the car to change by the time the lights go out for the season opener in Bahrain.
Speaking at the team's factory in Milton Keynes, Horner said:
“With the new regulation changes this year, the whole philosophy has altered, 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.”
Horner and Co. hope to see Max Verstappen mount a title defense with the new RB18 in 2022. Horner went on to add, saying:
“It is a steep learning curve for everyone and it is a contest in development between the first and the last race. We believe we have a good car for 2022, the RB18 is coming to life, and seeing it today is fantastic. It has been a huge effort from the Team and I am looking forward to seeing it out on the track now.”
Red Bull wary of Ferrari power unit prior to 2022 F1 season
Red Bull's sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has revealed his team is wary of Ferrari and the power unit in the Scuderia stables.
A report by RacingNews365 claims Wheatley was impressed by Ferrari's resurgence towards the end of 2021 and believes it could elude a good start to 2022. He said:
“Ferrari - certainly the power unit - looked to be very strong at the end of the year; they were clearly the third-fastest team at the end of the year. They’ve got a great driver line-up, as well. I wasn’t sure about whether they would gel together as drivers, but they seem to have done that very well. I think Ferrari are going to be the big unknown, or possibly the big threat this year.”
Ferrari, on the other hand, still has some doubts regarding the aerodynamics of their 2022 car so it remains to be seen how this translates on the track.
