Teething problems, more ominous indicators or immediate and obvious signs of design success – there were plenty of fascinating pointers at pre-season testing
ALEX KALINAUCKAS
Trackside verdict
There’s no doubt when the new Red Bull RB20 is heading your way. That’s clear from any wander trackside during last week’s pre-season testing in Bahrain.
The world champion squad’s latest challenger is notable precisely because the other machines have been shaped to look like its stunningly successful predecessor. The RB20 stands out largely thanks to its high waistline – those long cooling gulley cannons – although the intricacy and beauty of those parts feeding back from the halo can be lost when it’s running. And when viewed head on, it’s actually quite an ugly look. Instead, it’s speed that’s the main takeaway when the car is shooting and twisting past you.
Other cars stand out visibly too. The Sauber and McLaren liveries are not pleasant in the carbon-fibre flesh – mainly because there’s so much of it. What colour there is on these two looks splashed, basically, across the top aerodynamic surface designs. The tweaked Mercedes colour scheme also looks rather plain, all things considered.
The Haas colours are essentially the same as last year, while RB is probably the most visually stunning livery of the new crop, especially when its metallic finish glints under the floodlights, which also boost the dark green Aston Martin hue.But the RB does lose points for unoriginality. It’s a 2019 Toro Rosso with added white.
Williams and Alpine naturally don’t project given their dark looks. The latter team has even added a nose strip of its lovely corporate light blue, just so it can better identify its car running at speed. And then there’s Ferrari. A classic look, which loses something in the night running as the matte finish dulls colour under the lights. But how a car performs is much more important for Formula 1 fans, given it highlights key trends. So, here’s what we took away from watching trackside last week.
Impressive poise from Red Bull and RB
Where else to begin but Red Bull? The reigning world champion squad did have something of a tricky start to testing when Max Verstappen was regularly having to back o
