RED BULL RB18

As one of the first teams to launch its 2022 challenge, but the last to reveal the actual car, Red Bull was expected to take a bold approach with the new regulations – and it doesn’t disappoint

REAR WING

The overall rear-wing shape doesn’t show anything out of the ordinary at this stage, featuring a relatively flat mainplane. The central part of the upper flap features the V-shaped cutout to bleed off any wake from the DRS housing, which appears to conform to current style and sits within a singular wing mounting. The lower beam wing, however, is quite interesting, featuring a bowed trailing edge on the lower element feeding into a relatively straight-cut upper flap.

SIDEPODS

Red Bull has really rolled up its sleeves in this area. They feature a very heavy undercut, helped by extending the bottom leading edge of the inlet forward. Here, the opening of the floor’s venturi tunnels features a bargeboard-like extension over the top, with sharp, exposed corners to produce and energise vortices to help shunt airflow outwards, and guide any tyre wake away from the floor area. Airflow will pass around that undercut and around the flat-sided sidepods to be drawn into the rear ‘Coke bottle’ region, while the air passing over the top follows a downwards ramp to also feed towards the back of the car.