The RB18 made its debut at the 2022 Bahrain Grand Prix, with drivers Max Verstappen (the defending World Champion) and Sergio Pérez qualifying 2nd and 4th respectively.

In the early stages of the race, Verstappen suffered from overheating brakes, and after his second pitstop on lap 46, his steering column broke.

On the same lap, Nicholas Latifi crashed at the final turn, causing a safety car, allowing Leclerc, Verstappen and Sainz to get a cheap pitstop and gain track position over Pérez.

After the restart, Leclerc seemed to be comfortably leading, but a virtual safety car from numerous retirements on lap 37 changed the dynamic of the race.

[opinion] Verstappen's tyres appeared to have warmed up better than Leclerc's, allowing him to close up and attempt to take the lead numerous times.

Pérez eventually got past Hamilton on lap 9, but both Red Bull drivers began to struggle with graining in their front-left tyres.

Verstappen began to rapidly lose time to leader Charles Leclerc, while Pérez started to once again fall into the clutches of Hamilton.

A safety car caused by Sebastian Vettel's crash allowed George Russell to take a cheap pitstop and jump Pérez.

Pérez held onto his position for the remainder of the race, while Verstappen secured a dominant victory, achieving the second grand slam of his career.

[9] On lap 41, a late safety car allowed Pérez to pit for fresh medium tyres, potentially offering better grip in the closing stages.

Although Pérez constantly put pressure on Sainz on the restart, he was unable to pass him as his car's straight-line speed was compromised by his earlier sensor issue.

Verstappen was soon let past by Pérez to challenge Russell for second, but intermittent DRS issues carried over from qualifying prevented him from overtaking.

As the track surface dried up, Red Bull brought Pérez in for intermediate tyres on lap 17, enabling him to undercut race leader Charles Leclerc.

After a red flag caused by Mick Schumacher's crash, Pérez and Verstappen switched to medium tyres, with which they held positions to finish 1st and 3rd respectively.

At the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, the RB18 again had an advantage in top-end speed over Ferrari, but Leclerc took his fourth pole in a row ahead of Pérez and Verstappen in second and third respectively, with both drivers complaining about balance over one lap and the lack of a tow down Baku's 1.6km main straight.

However, at the start of the Grand Prix, Pérez overtook Leclerc into the first corner to take the lead of the race, with Verstappen remaining third, and Sainz's Ferrari fourth.

However, on lap 20, Leclerc's engine blew, and he was forced to retire for the second time in three races, leaving Red Bull with an easy 1-2 running order.

Red Bull instructed both drivers to manage their pace, and both stopped again for new hards on lap 34 during the VSC period caused by Magnussen's retirement.

[14] Heading into the British Grand Prix, Red Bull upgraded their car by altering the appearance of the engine cover bodywork.

This lead was short-lived, however, as on lap 12, Verstappen picked up floor damage as he ran over debris originating from Pierre Gasly's car, significantly reducing his pace, forcing him to pit.

However, Ocon's retirement on lap 42 allowed Verstappen to salvage his race somewhat, as he pitted for fresh softs and emerged in 9th for the safety car restart.

The Red Bull achieved its fourth pole position of the season with Verstappen in Austria, edging out Charles Leclerc by a mere 0.029 seconds.

To make matters worse for Red Bull, Verstappen began experiencing significant tyre degradation issues, enabling Leclerc to pressure him for the lead.

As the lights went out, Perez was immediately beaten off the line by Lewis Hamilton, with Verstappen unable to find a way past Leclerc in the opening stint.

At the restart, Verstappen easily pulled away from the rest of the field and coasted to victory, but Pérez seemed to struggle with race pace, getting overtaken by Sainz and pressured by George Russell.

Pérez moved back to 3rd after Sainz pitted for fresh softs, but he lost the podium after getting outfoxed on a VSC restart by Russell.

Following a safety car, the race restarted on lap 5, and Verstappen jumped to seventh at the expense of Alex Albon and took sixth from Daniel Ricciardo at the final chicane.