2022 Car Launches and Pre-season Testing (March 10-12, Bahrain)

Hey Gregory Brown94, what’s up with that tiny little exhaust vent in the Red Bull sidepod? What's the deal with that? Give us the breakdown—you're basically the only one here who actually gets the technical side of things. Even if you don't bother reading the rulebooks, you've clearly got a natural knack for it. Help us out here. Thanks.

It feels like the Red Bull car was thrown together just five minutes before rolling out of the garage. The halo looks cheap, and those sidepods seem pretty budget too. Still, if they actually find speed on track, then hats off to Newey and the rest of the team.

Raymond Anderson4 said:It looks like the Red Bull was finished just five minutes before rolling out of the garage; the halo seems a bit budget, and those sidepods look somewhat cheap too. Still, if they managed to get it done that quickly, credit where credit is due—kudos to Newey and the crew.

It was likely rushed through at the very last second, I suppose. However, I find myself unable to agree with the notion that it looks cheap. If you ask me, it actually looks about two levels above everything else on the grid. I am already starting to think that catching them this season might be an impossible task. We will simply have to wait and see how much time it takes for the rest of the field to attempt to copy the Red Bull solutions.

Raymond Anderson4 said:It looks like the Red Bull was basically finished five minutes before they rolled it out of the garage—seriously. The HALO looks super budget, and those sidepods? Total cheapskate vibes. But hey, if they actually managed to pull that off that fast, massive props to Newey and the crew.

Either the HALO is just looking low-budget, or they’ve somehow obsessively tuned every single tiny detail to deal with those damn porpoising issues.🤔

shadowstag10 said:Either HALO is being cheap or they’ve over-engineered those waves down to the microscopic level🤔

Look, when you're running a multi-million dollar operation led by a "design genius," it’s definitely not about cutting corners—it's clearly designed exactly this way for reasons known only to that brilliant mind.

Except, that same "design genius" was out there grinding sidepods with a hand file at dawn back in 2014...

We're way more worried about this little nub on the sidepod—so maybe we could get Alan to actually deal with it?

It’s the first day of testing, featuring entirely new cars, fresh tire compounds, and updated fuel blends. Right now, Leclerc's time is sitting about a second and a half behind last year's best Practice 1 time in Los Angeles, which puts him roughly 3.4 seconds off that pole position mark.
I suspect these cars are going to be incredibly fast; if I had to bet, I'd say they'll be quicker than last year's models through the end of the season. 🙂

Gregory Brown94 said:Jason Campbell70 is the perfect example of what’s wrong with this forum. I honestly don't understand how you all don't get tired of pulling a few words out of context and twisting them into something entirely different from the original point.

I'm being serious here. It's delusional behavior, and it happens year after year. Every single year, it's the same damn issue. Are you people okay? It's like this forum is your entire life; there's zero empathy or sense of community. To those who actually act like decent humans, much respect. You're the only reason I'm still hanging around here. 🙏

Kudos to Scrabs. He managed to turn the whole Formula 1 community into a live-action version of Idiocracy just with one troll tweet.🙏

And there. I feel better getting that off my chest. I don't care if I get a warning for it...

A bit of free advice—don't try to lecture people with that condescending attitude when you clearly don't know the subject. Eventually, you'll run into someone who loves to troll and actually knows more than you do, and they'll make you look ridiculous.

shadowstag10 said:Either HALO is poorly made or it's been developed down to the smallest detail with those waves.🤔

HALO is highly advanced.
The rest of the car, however, is pretty cheap. Literally. Some parts look like they were rushed through a 3D printer and slapped onto the chassis.
The logic was likely to see what the competition brings first, then adapt based on what they see.

The car looks radical in several areas, an approach that hasn't exactly paid off in recent Formula 1 history, not even for Newey.
We'll see during Q3 Bahrain.

hiddensailor7 said:First day of testing, brand new cars, totally new tires, even new fuel—and Leclerc's time is sitting at just a second and a half slower than last year's best Practice 1 time in Los Angeles, which puts him about 3.4s off pole position.
I’m telling you, these things are gonna be absolute rockets. I’d bet my life savings they'll be faster than last year's 🙂

and he's saying this while running on medium tires

Of course, one must take into account the fact that certain maps are being kept under wraps until we reach testing in Bahrain. It is entirely possible that some of these cars might present a quite different profile once they are actually on track.
As it stands, both Red Bull Racing and Ferrari have managed to clock in about 80 laps already, and as far as I can tell, reliability doesn't seem to be an issue at this stage.

graniteharbor502 said:Live testing updates:
motorsport
official site

We won't see any TV coverage for the tests until we hit Bahrain.

If you were wondering how aggressive the design approach is going to be at Red Bull Racing—spoiler alert: it's a lot:

Super interesting stuff, honestly. This season might actually be more chaotic than the last one. 🍿

That duo has been at it since the crack of dawn. 🙏
They just don't quit.

Is it actually for real? Are we seriously supposed to believe that teams just "accidentally" show up to TESTING with parts that look this unfinished?

As the afternoon progressed, it appeared that Red Bull Racing emerged with what could only be described as "starved" aerodynamics on the car:

Red Bull Racing has always had killer aero 😬

Teams are hungry for every scrap of data they can get their hands on. They're running endless laps, clearly showing a lack of faith in CFD and wind tunnel simulations, which explains the massive amount of pitot tubes and flow vis dye being used everywhere.
The more laps, the better. Lap times don't even matter right now.

Check out these comparison shots from Twitter:
Zboka

Zguza
In this one, you can spot the most intriguing detail on the new RB18: the lower part of the beam wing acting as an extension to the upper diffuser plate.
Still, seeing all that flow vis suggests that even Red Bull Racing isn't fully trusting their CFD and wind tunnel models.

Can't wait for Bahrain.

Jason Campbell70 said:Teams are hungry for every scrap of data they can get for later analysis. They're running endless laps, clearly harboring a massive amount of distrust toward CFD and wind tunnel simulations. That’s why we see so many Pitot tubes and piles of flow viz paint.
The more laps, the better. Lap times are irrelevant at this stage.

Here are a few comparison shots from Twitter:
John Doe

Doe
In this shot, you can spot the most intriguing detail on the new Red Bull, the lower beam wing acting as an extension to the upper diffuser plane.
Though, seeing such a mountain of flow viz suggests that even Red Bull doesn't fully trust their CFD or wind tunnel models.

I am looking forward to Bahrain.

Red Bull is running two beam wings. The regulations specify the size allowed for one, but they don't actually limit the quantity. They found a loophole in the rulebook. At first glance, it seems they might gain extra downforce because the air accelerates through the gap between the two wings.

Ferrari looks very strong. Red Bull brought a sharp tool to the fight, but Ferrari seemingly solved the issue back at the factory, and they did it quite elegantly.

I find myself wondering if we are perhaps looking at this from a slightly unusual camera angle, yet, upon closer inspection, one might be forgiven for thinking the driver's seat in the Red Bull appears to be positioned somewhat further toward the rear of the chassis:

I finally sat down to watch the trackside footage, and I have to say, these cars look more like Formula 2 machines than anything else. 😬

rapidstag2 said:Finally caught that track footage—honestly, these cars look just like F2 machines. 😬

Give me a break

Except for the wheel size.