Red Bull RB22 first look: conventional layout with subtle aero innovations

Red Bull made it clear last week that the RB22 teaser was just that – a teaser. Now that the car has finally hit the track, it’s obvious why, with the real RB22 revealing a raft of subtle but telling aerodynamic choices that go well beyond the initial renders.

But as soon as the RB22 turned a wheel in anger, the gaps between concept and reality were exposed, with Red Bull quietly rolling out a number of design solutions that never appeared in the launch images.

What the RB22’s first outing reveals

Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google for news you can trust.

Of course, this is still far from the finished article, with the team expected to introduce changes during the Bahrain tests before heading into the curtain raiser in Australia.

Nonetheless, it affords an opportunity to assess where the Milton Keynes team is at, and how its fundamental design works.

Starting with the front wing, it features a comparatively benign mainplane shape. The two flaps above it fit well within the usual geometry structure we’d expect from Red Bull, albeit with both able to be reclined when active aero is deployed.

In the outboard section of the wing Red Bull hasn’t used either a diveplane or any of the vane solutions that are permitted within the regulations.

The same can be said for the endplate and footplate, with the former presented with a thicker profile on the leading edge that tapers toward the rear, and is twisted across its length.

There’s a large, conical geometry used for the footplate, which bears resemblance to solutions we saw with the generation of cars prior to the ‘ground effect’ era.

The RB22 has seen Red Bull return to a much more conventional suspension and steering rack arrangement, with push-rod actuation at both ends, and far less front-to-back inclination used in the design of the wishbones.

There’s also the usual aerodynamic trickery being employed. There are fairings that wrap around those components designed to massage the airflow to improve conditions downstream.

Red Bull has opted for a slat-like horizontal deflector array for the RB22, with a crease in each surface to define where the surface geometry changes. It’s a design similar to that already seen on the Mercedes W17.

The difference in angles created by these creases are as a result of requirements in the regulations, which have been framed with the intent of generating inwash.

As ever, teams are already looking for ways to bend that intent. The forward portion of the three slats on the RB22 is angled outwards, whilst the remaining section is angled increasingly upward from top to bottom to generate some upwash.

To a lesser extent, there’s also some work being done by the support brackets. While offering support, they’ve also been aerodynamically shaped.

Nestled in behind are the sidepods, which offer a fascinating case study in design.

The sidepods are the most shrink-wrapped solution we’ve seen so far, with the upper side impact structure protruding out the side of the bodywork as a consequence.

This has drawn many comparisons with Mercedes’ ‘zeropod’ solution from 2022 but they’re clearly very different. Not only is the side impact structure wrapped differently, but there are also key differences in the sidepods layout.

For example, beneath this we can see a more traditionally shaped inlet, rather than the letterbox-style arrangements we’ve become accustomed to. But interestingly, there’s very little undercut beneath the inlet, which might come down to how Red Bull is pressurising that region to push away the front tyre wake. It could also be a result of how narrow the rest of the bodywork is.

Thereafter, the bodywork wraps around the heat exchangers and other components within the sidepods.

More from F1 2026 pre-season testing

What are those flashing mirror lights on F1 2026 cars? FIA explains
Valtteri Bottas identifies key Cadillac priority with revolutionary new F1 cars

While it appears to be a downsloping solution, much like its predecessors, it doesn’t make its way to the floor. Instead, there’s a drop-off similar to the Mercedes and Ferrari designs, albeit more abrupt.

The airbox, though not on the same scale as Racing Bulls, is still large when compared with their usually svelte solutions, perhaps indicating where designers placed some of the heat exchangers.

The floor ahead of the rear wheel, in the tyre spat region, appears similar to previous eras, with angular slots added to help manage with turbulence spilling off the side of the tyre into the diffuser at this stage.

In terms of the diffuser, Red Bull has a similar solution in its sidewall to those seen on the Mercedes and Ferrari, with a large slot ahead of the winglets now mounted on the side of the diffuser, rather than the rear brake duct.

There’s clearly still a great deal of detail that remains to be revealed by Red Bull in the coming weeks but, for now, the car that rolled out on track has afforded us a better understanding of how it, and other teams, might develop within the regulatory framework.

Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.

You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!

Read Next: The leading theory behind Williams’ Barcelona test absence and where it could hurt most