Red Bull Pre-Season Testing: What we learned from Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez’s initial RB18 run in Barcelona
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Red Bull's RB18 challenger
The first 2022 F1 pre-season testing concluded in Circuit de Barcelona in Catalunya where all the 10 Formula 1 teams completed the three-day shakedown with the main objective of collecting maximum OnTrack data on the performance of the new generation challengers which will be vital in their 2022 campaign success.
The Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez went into Barcelona to strengthen the team’s efforts to emulate and build upon their 2021 success this season. RB18 caught the eyes of the F1 community straight away after it hit the track with a radical sidepods design and the team had pretty productive test run.
Max Verstappen Lap timings and laps completed
Defending Champion Max Verstappen who will drive the Number 1 car this season had solid pre-season testing as he completed a total of 206 laps in his one a half-day schedule. Max Verstappen who was more focused on “Doing a lot of laps” in his effort to “Nail down every single aspect of the car,” just did that as gave more leverage laps completed than the speed. His highest finish came on Day 3 where he finished P4 clocking at a time of 1.19.756.
| Day | No: of laps completed | Fastest lap | Rank |
| Day 1 | 147 | 1.22.246 | P9 |
| Day 2 | – | – | – |
| Day 3 | 59 | 1.19.756 | P3 |
Sergio Perez Lap Timings and Laps completed
Sergio Perez began his pre-season testing on Day 2 of the shakedown and completed a total of 152 laps. Sergio Perez was forced to curb the number of laps completed after his car broke down on Day 2 following a gearbox issue. The Mexican was able to recover some of the lost laps on Day 3 and finished P3 ahead of his teammate Max Verstappen clocking in the fastest lap of 1.19.556.
| Day | No: of laps completed | Fastest lap | Rank |
| Day 1 | – | – | – |
| Day 2 | 78 | 1.21.430 | P7 |
| Day 3 | 74 | 1.19.556 | P4 |
Struggles faced by Red Bull
The Major struggle Red Bull had to face, in the 358 laps they completed was, Sergio Perez, Breaking down on day 2 of the testing following a gearbox which they were able to resolve soon after. Just like other teams, Red Bull also had to face ‘porpoising’ as their new designs failed to composite for the return of the ground effect phenomena.
Red Bull also didn’t put out the fastest lap times on any day of the tests as they were more concentrated on understanding the balance and reliability of the car which they succeeded to an extent, but the decision might come to bite them as they missed the opportunity to push the car to certain limits at the track.
Key positives for Red Bull to take away
Other than the gearbox hiccups rest of Red Bull’s test run schedule was a success as Max Verstappen claimed the ride was smooth and balanced saying “The car was running smooth, I was happy with the balance,”.
Red Bull will Bahrain for the second Pre-season testing and season beginner Bahrain GP and is expected to drive an entirely different car with the flows resolved and Red Bull is not considering the slowest lap times they had compared to Mercedes as Max Verstappen said: “Bahrain is going to be completely different, so heading into race one the car will be completely different as well,”.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen will surely go all out on defending the World Title and will also be hoping to secure the constructor’s championship in 2022. Mercedes and Lewis Hamilton will be a big constraint for them in their title pursuit as Mercedes is more motivated to win in 2022 following last year’s dramatic finish.
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Justin P Joy
(4970 Articles Published)