Red Bull Racing sure of making first 2012 test with new car

Mercedes recently confirmed that it would be missing the opening test, but the Red Bull chief technical officer expects his team to be ready.

"The schedule is to make the first test," he said when asked about progress on the RB8 by AUTOSPORT. "As always, it will be tight but I'd be very disappointed if it was not."

Newey admitted that the one potential pitfall was new regulations forcing teams to pass all FIA crash tests before they started testing.

Previously, teams only had to pass the tests before the first race weekend, but the 2012 rules mean that every team has had to bring forward its schedule.

"One thing that is different this year is that we have to pass all of the crash tests before we are allowed to test," said Newey. "For everyone, that is going to be a bit of a concern because sometimes something unexpected can happen.

"This time around, if something unexpected happens and it's too severe, then it could be the first test you miss and it could roll on to the second and third. But apart from that, it's just about getting out and getting on with it."