Red Bull has revealed the first images of their new car, the RB14, with a variation on the camo livery used in 2015 being used for a filming day at Silverstone prior to the first test in Barcelona.
After making up substantial ground on Mercedes and Ferrari in the second half of last year, there are greater expectations that the Anglo-Austrian team can finally challenge for the championship for the first time in the V6 hybrid era in 2018.
Learning from the slow and difficult starts to recent seasons, Red Bull switched focus earlier to the RB14 with the hope they can complete more mileage in testing and arrive in Australia with a much more competitive package.
Certainly, that will be the hope of drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen who grew frustrated at the lack of reliability and performance in 2017, indeed Ricciardo is biding his time this year before signing a new contract with his current deal expiring at the end of the season.
The Australian is the first man to step behind the wheel of the new car, completing a 100km filming day at Silverstone which Red Bull hope will also act as a shakedown to find and fix any initial teething problems before heading to Spain for the first test on February 26.
The blue camo livery is a one-off for that with the paint scheme the Milton Keynes outfit will race with being launched in Barcelona.
Always one of the most anticipated designs in the launch season, unsurprisingly Red Bull haven’t revealed too much with the car mostly resembling that which finished last season.
For 2018, Red Bull welcome also Aston Martin as title sponsors as part of the growing relationship between the two parties.
