By racerdigitaladmin - Feb 12, 2018, 11:15 AM ET

Red Bull sets launch date for 2018 car

Red Bull has announced an early launch date for its 2018 car, unveiling the RB14 on February 19.

The team is one of the last to confirm when it will launch this year's challenger, and there are currently no details other than the team simply announcing the date via its Twitter account. The majority of teams are opting for an online launch or roll-out at the first test, with only Mercedes holding a bespoke launch event at Silverstone on February 21.

Red Bull finished last year in third place in the constructors' championship after a relatively slow start, with its first win of the year coming in the eighth round in Azerbaijan before it ended the season strongly with two victories in the final six races.

In 2018, Red Bull will go up against the Renault factory team as well as new customer McLaren as teams with the same power unit, although the Red Bull engines will continue to be badged as Tag Heuer as part of a sponsorship deal. The team retains last year's driver line-up of Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo, although the latter's future is uncertain as Ricciardo is out of contract at the end of the year (watch Ricciardo discuss his contract situation

here

).

The launch date is exactly one week before the start of pre-season testing, with the first of two four-day tests getting underway in Barcelona on February 26.