Van der Garde on RB16B unveiling: "Same story every year"

Giedo van der Garde can't make much sense of the first images released of Red Bull's 2021 car. According to the former Formula 1 driver, the RB16B looks a lot like its predecessor and so there is still very little to say about it. However, Van der Garde is hopeful of an exciting battle with Mercedes.

"It looks a bit the same as last year's car. Of course, every year it's the same with these presentations. It's fun and they get some media attention, but at the test in Bahrain all the cars look different," Van der Garde explained to Motorsport.com.

The new car of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez is sixty per cent the same as the 2020 car, according to Christian Horner. In terms of regulations, Adrain Newey has mainly had to make adjustments to the floor. Red Bull has already experimented with them in free practice during the last Grands Prix of last year.

Verstappen could benefit from Perez

"I am hopeful. Of course, they started testing with the new floor early on, so they have a lot of data from that anyway. They also say they changed some things in the wind tunnel, so the correlation is better now," Van der Garde continued. "And Max has the big advantage this year of having a good teammate in Perez, who he can really use."

According to the 35-year-old analyst, Perez will not only provide good support in terms of strategy in the races, but also in terms of gathering valuable data. The season in Bahrain starts on Friday 26 March at the Bahrain International Circuit.