The Milton Keynes-based team, which helped Max Verstappen to his maiden F1 drivers’ championship last year, has kept the car away from being in the spotlight so far.

Having just revealed an updated show car at its official launch earlier this month, the team completed a behind closed doors shakedown at Silverstone on a promotional filming day with only some low res video footage from onlookers appearing.

But as official testing got underway in Spain on Wednesday, the new RB18 was spotted for the first time as Verstappen was tasked with its early running.

The new car certainly did not disappoint in its ambition, with it featuring perhaps the most aggressive sidepod solution we have seen on any of the cars so far.

As well as narrow inlet, the design sees a bold undercut that is carried back quite a way before merging with the coke bottle region of the car.

Red Bull Racing RB18 sidepods detail

It is a stark departure from what Red Bull’s rivals have done, with the sidepod area of the cars having been an area of clear difference between teams ahead of the 2022 campaign.

The Red Bull nose also features an interesting solution as it merges with the second wing element rather than going all the way to the front.

Red Bull is hopeful that the all-new aero regulations for 2022 will give it a good opportunity to go for the championship again.

Speaking at the team launch, however, team boss Red Bull Christian Horner was mindful about the possibility of other teams having discovered some design secret to give them an edge.

“We are aiming to build on what we achieved last year,” he said. “The target is to try to retain the title.

“The big unknown is have we missed something with these regulations and has someone else stolen a march?”

Verstappen will drive the RB18 for all of Wednesday, before handing the car over to teammate Sergio Perez for Thursday’s running. The pair will then get half a day each on Friday.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

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