Many were disappointed after the presentation of the “RB19” in New York. Because they weren’t shown a 2023 car, just an RB18 from 2022 with a new paint job. However, Red Bull fans can take comfort in the fact that they are not alone: even Max Verstappen has not yet seen the real RB19!
When we asked him in the zoom media round after the “car launch” how different the real RB19, which he has certainly seen in 3D models or in the wind tunnel, looks like, Verstappen said: “Honestly: me I haven’t seen it yet!”
“I was only told how much performance the engineers found in terms of lap times and what the handling will be like. But I haven’t seen any pictures yet. I don’t care about the bean. I just need a fast car. I don’t give a damn what it looks like,” the two-time world champion dismisses.
A small disappointment for many Red Bull fans who were looking for nuances during the live stream in which the supposed RB19 might differ from the RB18. Finally, the words “RB19” were emblazoned in bold letters on the video wall behind the car shown. A sheer misleading, many find.
“You might as well just post a photo of last year’s car,” wrote one disappointed fan on Twitter, and another is sad: “My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined.”
In his media round, team boss Christian Horner tried to maintain the illusion that at least parts of the car were new. He only conceded: “Of course, the car that we showed today will look quite different in Bahrain.”
“Today was about introducing the team and their goals for the year ahead, our partners and the exciting partnership with Ford. And in the USA at that, for the first time for Red Bull Racing,” says Horner.
An admission that what Red Bull showed in New York was a repainted RB18 is something Horner can’t get out of his mouth. He squirms around a clear truth when he hints: “Of course, what we showed today is not 100% the car that will be on the track in Bahrain in a few weeks.”
And that, by the way, let me be clear in his defence, is by no means unusual. Of course, Formula 1 teams do not want to show their technical secrets to the competition in the hot final phase of development. And star designer Adrian Newey is probably not even done with the finishing touches in the wind tunnel…
This article was written by Christian Nimmervoll
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The original of this post “Even the Formula 1 World Champion doesn’t know his new car yet” comes from Motorsport-Total.com.
