Gallery: Aston Martin AMR22 2022 F1 car

The livery looks absolutely fabulous, doesn’t it? Title sponsors Aramco and Cognizant taking centre stage does little to distract from the delightful green livery with yellow accenting. So elaborate is the livery that at least at first, it’s difficult to get a full handle on the AMR22 in terms of whether it’s another model mock-up, or the real deal. As above, we’re leaning towards the latter. The more we pore over it, the more we’re convinced and the more the “RB18” looks like a scaled-up toy…

The splitter elements deviate the furthest from the demonstrator concept, with a four-layer solution that features a few more straight edges, especially on the top elements. The bottom element is much lower than the end of the nose and spans the width of the splitter.

Smaller square sidepod inlets nestle within a black livery that gives the impression they’re bigger, while along the top, a number of slashes feature. The sidepods themselves are wider and stay wide for much longer than those on the Haas VF-22, for example.

Up top, a snorkel very much more reminiscent of last year’s cars, with in-inlet guiding elements, again suggesting this is the real deal. Running back and down the sides from the snorkel, engine-accommodating bulges blister out and further back, huzzah, the very first 2022 F1 car to show a wing with DRS!

Chief technical officer Andrew Green was careful to emphasise the sheer depth of unknown waters Aston and indeed the other teams are wading into with these new rules. He goes on to say that AMR22, impressive as it looks here, will be subject to a steep development curve as the season and subsequent seasons under this rule set goes on.

So what do you think of AMR22? As fans like you, this is by far our favourite car we’ve yet seen. Next up, McLaren…

You can see a complete list of 2022 F1 car launches here.