Red Bull’s challenger for the 2022 season – the RB18 is said to be “faster” than the RB16B. RB16B was the team’s 2021 car that Max Verstappen won his first world title in.
Originally reported by Spanish outlet Marca, sources within Milton Keynes have reportedly revealed that the team’s new car is already faster based on simulations
This contradicts the widely held belief that the new generation of cars, built to sweeping new aerodynamic regulations, will be much slower compared to last generation cars.
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Additionally, the new report aligns with claims made by former F1 driver and current Aston Martin reserve Nico Hulkenberg earlier this month. In his blog post The Hulk Report, the German claims that the new generation of cars isn’t necessarily slower than last year’s car. He added that this may not necessarily contribute to closer races as initially predicted.
F1 introduced the new aerodynamic regulations to improve racing, which intentionally make it harder to generate downforce. In a post-season interview with Marca, Formula 1’s technical director, Nicholas Tombazis had claimed that the new cars could be almost 3-5 seconds slower than last year’s cars.
Red Bull had to abandon its “high-rake” aero philosophy in 2022
For much of the turbo-hybrid era (which started in 2014) Red Bull has consistently developed more downforce in corners compared to any other team on the grid, especially at high speeds.
To achieve this, the team employed a unique approach that had its own pros and cons. They ran the rear of their cars higher off the ground compared to most teams, known as “high rake.” This helped develop more downforce overall, but at the expense of straight line speed.
In contrast, Mercedes was diametrically opposed to Red Bull in aerodynamic concept, typically leaving the rear of their cars closer to the ground, known as “low rake”. The Brackley team has always opted for aerodynamic efficiency over chasing peak downforce.
Could this be the year Redbull’s unorthodox high rake design finally pays off??? We’ll have to wait and see, but the launch looks incredibly promising
Could this be the year Redbull’s unorthodox high rake design finally pays off??? We’ll have to wait and see but the start looks incredibly promising https://t.co/sHODdTgymJ
The low-rake Mercedes has always been a more “balanced” car, easily adaptable to any situation. On the other hand, the gap down the straight made the Red Bull a difficult car to line up in certain locations. However, the Austrian team always believed that its philosophy was superior, but compared to Mercedes it lacked a powerful engine.
In 2021, rule changes regarding rear downforce brought Red Bull’s high-rake concept to the fore. It helped them start the season faster than Mercedes and eventually win the drivers’ championship.
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In 2022, however, Milton Keynes may have to abandon its high rake concept for good. The new regulations, aimed at creating ground effect downforce, make it impossible to drive a car at high lean.
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