Red Bull’s Insane RB22 Sidepod Design Revealed – Tiny Air Intakes Spark “This Can’t Be Legal” Reactions Across F1

The 2026 Formula 1 cars are finally hitting the track, and Red Bull has just dropped the biggest talking point of pre-season testing: sidepods so radically small they look almost unreal.

During the opening day of private testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on January 26, the Oracle Red Bull Racing RB22 rolled out with the narrowest, most aggressively packaged sidepod inlets ever seen on a current-generation F1 car. The air intakes – the critical cooling openings on either side of the cockpit – are dramatically reduced in size compared to every other team on the grid, immediately prompting the same reaction from engineers, rival teams, and fans alike: “This can’t possibly work.”

Neil Zambardi-Christie, a senior aerodynamicist at Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team, summed up the paddock’s collective disbelief during a leaked factory walkthrough clip:

“I’ve worked on a lot of cars in my career… but when I first saw this Newey car, I genuinely did not believe my eyes. It’s not just good. It’s a work of art.”

Zambardi-Christie’s comment – never intended for public release – has since gone viral, fueling speculation that Adrian Newey’s first Aston Martin creation (the AMR26) is already turning heads. Yet the real shock of the week belongs to Red Bull.

Why Red Bull’s tiny sidepods matter

The 2026 technical regulations represent the biggest reset in Formula 1 since the ground-effect era returned in 2022. Power units now split energy delivery roughly 50/50 between internal combustion and MGU-K hybrid deployment, generating significantly more heat from the electrical components. Cooling those systems requires substantial airflow – traditionally provided by large sidepod inlets.

Most teams have followed a conservative path: bigger openings, more drag, but guaranteed reliability. Red Bull has taken the opposite gamble.

From the front, the RB22 looks impossibly skinny. The sidepod inlets are tiny – far smaller than Mercedes’ twin side ducts, Ferrari’s compromise package, or McLaren’s large rectangular mouths. Instead of relying on conventional sidepod volume, Red Bull appears to have leaned heavily on alternative cooling pathways:

A prominent upper inlet (often called the “airbox” or “top scoop”) positioned above the driver’s helmet, channeling air downward to critical heat exchangers. Carefully sculpted bodywork that guides airflow around the narrow sidepod profile, reducing drag while maintaining sufficient mass flow. Rear-facing “cannon” outlets that expel hot air in a way that energizes the diffuser and rear wing flow, potentially generating additional downforce.

Technical analysts have nicknamed the rear exit design “cannon exhausts” – a term already circulating among F1 Twitter and Reddit communities – because the hot air is directed aggressively to clean up flow over the rear of the car rather than simply dumped vertically.

Risk vs. reward – Red Bull’s high-stakes bet

The decision is classic Red Bull: push every regulatory limit to chase lap time.

Smaller sidepods = lower frontal area = less drag = higher top speed on straights and better efficiency through medium- and high-speed corners. In theory, the RB22 could carry more momentum through sectors that punish draggy cars.

But the trade-off is brutal. If cooling proves inadequate during race conditions – where engines and hybrids must run flat-out for nearly two hours – Red Bull risks thermal degradation, power loss, component failure, or even retirement. Testing is one thing; the relentless heat soak of a Grand Prix is another.

Early signs from Barcelona are encouraging. Isack Hadjar (Red Bull junior driver) set the fastest time on Day 1 and completed over 100 laps without any reported cooling issues. That alone has forced rival teams to re-evaluate their own cooling packages overnight.

Racing Bulls – Red Bull’s sister team running identical power units – has taken the opposite approach: massive sidepod inlets that look almost comically oversized next to the RB22. The visual contrast is stark and telling: even with the same engine supplier, one team is betting on extreme miniaturization while the other plays it safe.

Newey’s fingerprints are everywhere

Although the AMR26 is still under wraps, Zambardi-Christie’s leaked reaction strongly suggests Newey has carried over some of his trademark obsession with flow conditioning and packaging density. Industry whispers indicate the Aston car shares conceptual DNA with Red Bull’s 2026 philosophy: ultra-tight sidepods, aggressive upper cooling, and surface flow manipulation to minimize drag while satisfying cooling demands.

If both Red Bull and Aston Martin succeed with similar solutions, 2026 could see a clear divide: teams that embraced radical miniaturization versus those that prioritized cooling volume and reliability.

The verdict comes soon

Barcelona testing runs until January 30. Every lap Red Bull completes without overheating will increase pressure on rivals to rethink their own designs. Every session that ends early with smoke pouring from the rear will fuel doubts.

One thing is already certain: Adrian Newey’s influence – whether at Red Bull or now at Aston Martin – is once again forcing the entire grid to react rather than dictate.

The 2026 season starts in Melbourne in less than six weeks.

By then, we’ll know whether Red Bull’s tiny sidepods are genius… or the biggest mistake of the new regulation era.