Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has explained how the team are faring as they work flat out on the development and manufacturing of the all-new RB18. The new car, which will be the team's first offering to suit F1's revolutionary new regulations, is yet to have a formal launch date confirmed, but the team did offer a tantalising teaser image of the rear of their design last week . Speaking in an exclusive interview with RacingNews365.com , a relaxed but focused Horner said that the new car is on target to begin the physical build next week. "This is that time of year where everything's a bit tight; it's lots of long hours and takeaways!" he said. "There's a lot of hard work going into RB18 [and] it's taking shape. It's hitting the majority of its targets so far. "The team are working incredibly hard, and it's really coming together. It goes into car build next week, so that's exciting!"
Red Bull planning their usual shakedown
As has become standard for Red Bull in recent years, Horner confirmed that they intend to bring the new car along for a shakedown before testing. This involves the team using one of their allocated two filming days, permitting 100 kilometres of track running time on specially-supplied Pirelli tyres. The shakedown allows the teams to identify and fix any early glitches that could have serious consequences for their preparations once testing begins properly. "In terms of testing, we'll do the usual shakedown, prior to heading down to Barcelona and Bahrain," Horner explained. "With a new car, it's not a lot at three days a driver – it's pretty intense. But it'll certainly make the first part of the season, for the fans and the followers, more interesting." Horner believes that the early testing results could be somewhat surprising, with some unusual names appearing, given that the regulations are so different. "Particularly with such a big regulation shake-up, there will be winners and losers from that," he added. "So you might get some curveball results that you've not expected, depending on what solutions people have come up with."
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