Sculpted sidepods and a reworked floor marked a new-look Red Bull on the final day of testing in Bahrain

Red Bull unveiled a reworked sidepod design on the final day of testing in Bahrain, with the RB18 also sporting an updated floor design. Early in the morning’s session the unmistakable bangs and scrapes of bodywork being fitted could be heard outside the Red Bull garage. Ad/> An hour into the session, Sergio Perez broke the cover of the garage and unveiled a sculpted sidepod design that will look to close the gap with Mercedes’ no-pod design that caused so much controversy earlier in the week.

Formula 1F1 2022: New drivers, rule changes and race schedule20 HOURS AGO /> The new sidepods feature a far less aggressive undercut and larger air intakes than previous iterations, in a design closer to the look of the Ferrari. Sidepods have been the subject of controversy as the teams tweak and refine their designs ahead of the 2022 season opener next weekend. Mercedes’ approach has been to almost do away with the sidepods completely, instead relying on blisters and bumps to meet the regulations.

The Mercedes W13 looked radically different to the rest of the pack. With the reintroduction of ‘ground effect’ — using the flow of air under the car to suck it to the tarmac — the Mercedes is thought to be less reliant on air flowing over the car to generate downforce. Paired with the bigger, 18-inch wheels, it signals a departure from the look of the cars over the last few years as the teams started with a blank slate for 2022.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner seemed to question the legality of the design on the first day of testing, but later conceded that the controversial sidepod design ‘looks like it complies with regulations’. “Whether we think it’s legal or not, yes, it looks like it ticks all the boxes,” he said. His