As the season opening Australian Grand Prix draws ever closer, teams are going to begin treating the final of days of the Barcelona test like the Friday practice sessions of an official Grand Prix weekend. It seems Red Bull have started their Australian Grand Prix preparations already, after flying out a whole host of new updates to test at the Circuit de Catalunya.
These new updates in particular consist of a revised exhaust layout, similar to Sauber’s, including new front and rear wings. As Mark Webber left the garage early this morning to complete the first installation laps on the new car, all eyes were fixed on the revised RB8 which Red Bull hope will help them retain both Championships’ in 2012.
Yesterday, reigning World Champion Sebastian Vettel said he was reserving his judgement on the new Red Bull RB8 until after the new updates had been applied to the car. The German also admitted that the pecking order of the 2012 grid would be hard to know until after the first race in Melbourne on March 18th.
"We have some new bits for the next two days and then we’ll know a little bit more," said the 2-time World Champion. "Everyone is a bit in the same situation. Usually the last couple of days of testing are quite important because you bring some new bits and the car is closer to what you will race at the first race, so we will see if that comes true.”
With the majority of the 2012 grid predicting a closer and more competitive season, Red Bull will be hoping this upgrade sets them up well for a successful 2012 season.