On Monday, Red Bull was the first of the big teams to reveal their latest title challenger ahead of the 2018 F1 season which begins on March 25th at the Australian GP. The RB14 took to the track at Silverstone race circuit on a typically wet day, as expected for this time of the year. Hass and Williams were the first to reveal their 2018 contenders. Pre-season testing is scheduled for February 26 – March 1 and for a second time on March 6- 9, both sessions will be held at the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona.
At this stage of the season, most car reveals will not display the final development iteration until the first race of the season begins. By the time the season ends numerous design updates will be implemented.
What we do see for now is that Red Bull has formed a close association with Aston Martin who becomes official/unofficial sponsors.
Its a bit of strange alliance, Red Bull use Renault sourced F1 engines while Aston Martin uses Mercedes sourced engines for their road cars.
Mind you the current CEO of Aston Martin used to be a Renault executive so he probably pulled a few strings, called a few contacts.
In terms of rule changes for 2018, there are relatively few, 2017 saw F1 cars become wider and faster, but it also saw loopholes being exploited, these have now been closed.
So, shark fins and T-wings are gone for 2018. The biggest rule change for 2018 is the introduction of the Halo. The cockpit protection device has caused controversy for its aesthetics.
Trick suspension is also outlawed, this system continuously alters the ride height of the car to create optimum aerodynamic efficiency over the course of a lap.
The “trick” is initiated everytime the steering input is changed by the driver, in doing so the suspension is programmed to alter the ride height.
Pre-season testing is notoriously bad at predicting which team will be dominant.
