Red Bull and Mercedes 2022 F1 cars fail FIA crash tests

The Italian branch of Motorsport reported that Red Bull's RB18 has failed the front FIA mandatory homologations crash test, and that may be the reason why the Milton Keynes outfit are yet to announce a date for their 2022 F1 machine.

The publication also reported that Mercedes' W13 has faced the same fate and failed the side impact test, and thus the 2022 F1 cars for both of last season's title rivals are yet to be homologated by the FIA.

The report claims that despite the test failure, the energy drinks outfit is not overly concerned about it, as that could be down to the extreme approach the team's Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey adopted on the 2022 project.

With Red Bull pressing on with development of their 2021 RB16B for the whole season due to the title fight they were locked in with Mercedes, many of their competitors are hoping that this would affect their 2022 car, but the report reveals that some information leaked from Milton Keynes claiming that the new car is at least as fast as the car Max Verstappen piloted to his maiden F1 Drivers' Title.

With the new F1 cars utilizing ground effect to generate downforce, the RB18's wheel base should be close to the maximum limit of 3,600mm set by the regulations, which makes the Venturi channels longer, in a bid to produce more downforce, always according to Motorsport Italy.

The Italian publication claims that the Mercedes design team lead by Chief Technical Officer James Allison has, like Red Bull's Newey, been pushing the design envelope with extreme solutions for the W13, leading to the FIA test failure, and that a plan B is already in place, as Mercedes' designer have anticipate the failure.

Mercedes, however, will be working against a deadline as they have announced that their 2022 machine will be revealed on February 18, as Red Bull are yet to announce any dates.

Like the Red Bull RB18, the report claims that the W13 will also have a long wheel base close to the 3,600mm regulation limit, to extract maximum downforce from the car's Venturi channels.

Regardless of the 'road bumps' both teams are facing with the inception of their new cars, it would be unwise to bet against Mercedes and Red Bull to fail in getting on top of these pre-season difficulties, and should resume their on-track battles as the upcoming F1 season kicks off in under 50 days in March.