Red Bull's 2012 F1 Machine Goes Public

Just the Facts:

• Mark Webber took the new Red Bull RB8 racecar for a shakedown lap Tuesday at Jerez.
• The new car was revealed online.
• More than half the 2012 grid has been put on display already.

JEREZ, Spain — One day after the 2012 Red Bull Formula 1 racecar was unveiled in an online launch, the new RB8 took its first shakedown lap Tuesday at the Circuit of Jerez, with Mark Webber at the wheel.

The new Adrian Newey-designed car has much to live up to, with Sebastian Vettel driving previous models to back-to-back driver championships, last year's in a dominant season that had the young German clinching the title four races before the finale.

Vettel is slated to drive the car in the last two days of the four-day session at Jerez.

The RB8 features the controversial stepped nose, labeled by some "the platypus" or "boxer's nose," and visible modifications in the exhaust area to conform with new regulations, and includes an air intake in the hump behind the new nose, but otherwise appears similar to the RB7.

Last year's car won 12 of 19 rounds, with Vettel winning 11 of them.

The new car, fabled designer Newey says, is "the fourth evolution of the RB5" and said the rules change prohibiting the use of engine exhaust to enhance rear downforce created the biggest challenge.

"We designed the RB7, last year's car, around that exhaust position and were probably the only people to do so, so it may be that we've lost more than other people through that," Newey said.

Red Bull's sister team, Scuderia Toro Rosso, is scheduled to launch its STR7 today at Jerez. The Williams FW34 is also slated to debut today.

Other teams already launching their new machines include Caterham CT01 (formerly the green-and-yellow Lotus), McLaren MP4-27, Ferrari F2012, Sahara Force India VJM 05, Lotus Renault E20 and Sauber C31.

Mercedes and Marussia are slated to unveil their F1 W03 and MR01 models February 21. No launch date has been announced for the HRT F112.

Inside Line says: Their appearances will be debated, but the bottom line is how fast will they go? Red Bull has had the upper hand for two years in a row. Testing will reveal some things, but the first race of the new year will be the ultimate test.