“Suddenly my brain is saying it’s an Adrian Newey masterclass”: F1 Twitter left stunned with Red Bull and their side-pod design for the 2022 car

Red Bull have taken a very unique approach with the design of the RB18’s sidepods as seen on the first day of pre-season testing. 

Pre-season testing in Barcelona is finally underway. With just under a month left until the first race in Bahrain, F1 teams don’t have a lot of time left to make adjustments to their new car.

The testing session at the Circuit de Catalunya-Barcelona does not feature live TV coverage or timing. Although F1 hasn’t given any official explanation behind this, it’s widely believed that the teams wanted a few days of ‘private testing’ where they can try new things out before the real action begins next month.

In spite of limited media coverage, pictures and videos posted by the teams have drawn a lot of attention. In particular, the car designs have been talked about quite a bit. 2022 sees F1 bring about major changes in regulations that radically alters how the cars look.

The most surprising design so far, has been brought about by Red Bull. The car they brought to Spain looks absolutely different from the one they revealed at their launch event earlier this month.

Also read: Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull come face to face at Barcelona as the Mercedes star walks past Max Verstappen’s car in the pit-lane

Red Bull go out with an uncovered side-pod at the pre-season testing in Barcelona

Fans were very surprised with Red Bull’s approach to their RB18’s design. The cars we see on track right now, will go through lots of further changes before the next testing session in Bahrain come March.

However, the fact that their car looks so drastically different from Mercedes and Ferrari (their expected competitors) this season, has planted seeds in the minds of aplenty.

Some feel that this approach is an ‘Adrian Newey’ masterclass and will help them leapfrog Mercedes in terms of performance. Others feel that it’s something they’re trying out just because it’s a private test, and that they will go back to a more predictable design in Sakhir.

Here’s how F1 Twitter reacted to the unique design of the RB18’s sidepod:

Also read: New technical regulations: What do we know about the new F1 2022 cars following the testing in Barcelona?