Red Bull have launched their new F1 car, the RB22, in Detroit with a glossy blue livery and their first Ford engine – as the team back Max Verstappen for the title fight
Red Bull are confident they can keep Max Verstappen in contention for the championship this season – with their maiden engine and a striking new car that harks back to the team’s Formula 1 debut. The Milton Keynes outfit unveiled their new machine, the RB22, in Detroit overnight, showcasing their most significant livery overhaul in years.
The dark navy, matte finish of recent campaigns has been ditched in favour of a brighter, glossier blue on a white base. Red Bull say the livery pays tribute to their “original look”, when they first joined F1 back in 2005. But there are also hints of a fresh chapter, with new engine partner Ford’s logo displayed prominently.
So too is Verstappen’s new #3, used with permission from its previous owner Daniel Ricciardo, the Dutchman having forfeited the right to use #1 to Lando Norris. The RB22 could prove to be Verstappen’s final Red Bull car, given the clause in his contract which might allow him to depart for free if performance targets aren’t achieved.
And the reality that his agent, Raymond Vermeulen, has made it plain that all possibilities will be explored if Red Bull aren’t competitive in F1’s new era. But having invested four years developing Red Bull’s first in-house engine, powertrain technical director Ben Hodgkinson is hopeful that they can succeed.
Speaking in a media roundtable with only a few media outlets, including Mirror Sport, he explained: “I’ve been doing this for 27 years, so everything I do has got to be backed up by the belief I can do it. I don’t think you belong in this industry if you don’t believe that.
“[Giving Verstappen a fast car] is clearly the target. But I think that, if you show me a confident engineer, I’ll show you one that’s about to lose. You can never underestimate where everybody is, you always have to assume you’re behind so that you always push the absolute maximum.
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“It’s going to be an interesting season. I’m very confident that the team I’ve built is incredible, I’m confident the facilities we put together are going to be benchmark. But we’re a newcomer – we had to build factories while people started developing engines.
“We started behind, but I think the people and the facilities we’ve got are better than everybody else. So watch this space. Will we overtake them by race one? I don’t know. We’ll have to wait and see.”
Formula 1’s latest power units depend far more heavily on electrical energy than their predecessors, meaning drivers will face the added complexity of juggling various modes whilst hurtling along at 200mph. Verstappen has demonstrated exceptional ability when it comes to handling multiple tasks simultaneously at the wheel, and Hodgkinson reckons both he and fresh recruit Isack Hadjar might hold an advantage over their competitors.
He said: “It’s going to be a bit more for them to manage. I think the drivers that have got the most cognitive bandwidth whilst they’re driving a car are the ones that are going to really stand out. I think that puts us in a really good position with the drivers that we have.”
Sky Sports launches discounted Formula 1 package
Formula 1 fans can watch every practice, qualifying and race live with Sky’s new Essential TV and Sky Sports bundle in a new deal that saves £192.
As well as Sky Sports access, this includes more than 100 TV channels and free subscriptions to Netflix and Discovery+.
