Red Bull's 2022 F1 car reportedly already "faster" than 2021 challenger

Red Bull’s challenger for the 2022 season – the RB18 is reportedly “faster” than the RB16B. RB16B was the team’s 2021 car with which Max Verstappen clinched his maiden world championship.

Originally reported by Spanish outlet Marca, sources inside Milton Keynes have reportedly revealed the team’s new car is already faster based on simulation

This contradicts the widely held belief that the new generation of cars, built according to sweeping new aerodynamic regulations, will be much slower compared to cars from the last generation.

Furthermore, the new report is in line 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 claimed that the new generation of cars aren’t necessarily slower than last year’s car. He added that it might not necessarily aid closer racing as originally predicted.

F1 introduced the new aerodynamic regulations in an effort to improve racing, which deliberately make it harder to generate downforce. In a post-season interview with Marca, F1’s technical director, Nicholas Tombazis had claimed that the new cars are expected to be nearly 3-5 seconds slower than last year’s cars.

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Red Bull forced to abandon their “high-rake” aero philosophy in 2022

Throughout much of the turbo-hybrid era (which started in 2014), Red Bull have been consistently developing more cornering downforce, especially in high speeds compared to any other team on the grid.

To achieve this, the team employed a unique approach that came with its own benefits and drawbacks. They ran the rear of their cars higher from the ground compared to most teams, known as “high rake”. This helped develop more overall downforce but came at a cost of straight-line speed.

In contrast, Mercedes have been diametrically opposite to Red Bull in aerodynamic concept, typically running the rear of their cars closer to the ground, known as “low rake”. The Brackley team always chose to aerodynamic efficiency rather than chasing peak downforce.

The low-rake Mercedes was always a more “balanced” car that could be easily adapted to every situation. On the other hand, the straight-line deficit made the Red Bull a tricky car to set up on certain venues. Yet, the Austrian team always believed that their philosophy to be superior, but lacked a powerful engine compared to Mercedes.

In 2021, regulation changes concerning rear downforce brought Red Bull’s higher rake concept to the fore. It helped them start the season faster than Mercedes, and ultimately clinch the driver’s championship.

However, going into 2022, Milton Keynes might have to finally abandon their high rake concept. The new regulations aimed at generating ground-effect downforce makes it impossible to run a high-rake car.