Adrian Newey is a voice to listen to in the paddock. With forty years of experience in Formula 1 and his many titles won with prestigious teams (Williams, McLaren et Red Bull), the iconic British engineer knows better than anyone when a project is working… and when it starts to pedal in the semolina. Alas, at Red Bull, knowing the 66-year-old is about to leave (with an official announcement on May 1, 2024), perhaps his voice was not heard enough… and that potentially cost the Austrian team dearly.
Last year, the Milton Keynes team suffered a surprising loss of performance during the season: from an ultra-dominant team in 2023 and in the first Grands Prix of 2024, Red Bull lost its footing during the summer, falling behind McLaren, Ferrari and (sporadically) Mercedes in the hierarchy. The Austrian team encountered various problems with its RB20, whose behavior worsened race after race during the European tour, before Red Bull provided solutions at the end of the season to correct the situation. A surprising downgrade but one that did not surprise Adrian Newey who had seen the problems coming in 2023, before they became problematic… and well before the announcement of his departure on May 1st.
“Obviously McLaren and Ferrari have developed their cars well and done a really good job with their cars. But I think for Red Bull, from what I could see, the 2024 car and even the 2023 car at the end of the season were starting to become more difficult to drive., Adrian Newey confided in an interview with Car engine and sport. Of course, Max [Verstappen] could handle it. It didn't suit him, but he could handle it, which Checo [Pérez] couldn't. So we started, over the course of 2023, to see a bigger performance difference between the two teammates. That continued through the first part of 2024, but the car was still fast enough to handle it. It was something that started to worry me, but not many people in the organization seemed to care.
Newey points out a « lack of experience » from Red Bull
The now ex-Red Bull engineer, who will join Aston Martin on March 1st as a shareholder and main technical partner, pointed out the stubbornness of the Austrian team in its development. The Englishman believes that the teams of Christian Horner and Pierre Waché (technical director of Red Bull) have lacked perspective on the situation, blinded by the successes of Max Verstappen… and this, despite the numerous complaints made by a Sergio Pérez in difficulty with the RB20.
"From what I can see from the outside, but I don't know, I think the guys at Red Bull - and this is not a criticism - have simply, perhaps through lack of experience, continued in the same direction, underlines the Briton. And the problem became more and more acute, to the point where even Max had difficulty driving. (…) The settings can mask the problems to some extent, but the problem is still there. For me, the settings are more simply about optimising the characteristics of the car and of course, to some extent, the driver, but I think here it was overdone. It is mainly about complementing the characteristics of the car and, of course, varying from one circuit to another, depending on the nature of the circuit. Here's hoping for Red Bull that this time Adrian Newey's recent remarks are well heard for the 2025 and 2026 development!
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vincent moyet
02/02/2025 at 08:23 a.m.
It's interesting to compare his words with those of Marko who claims that Verstappen's teammates "try absurd settings to try to beat him". I would tend to believe Newey given his track record. And so, RBR would not have listened to Newey any more than Perez, too sure of the domination of their champion... who found himself in trouble when he could no longer compensate with his driving. This year, the team risks not starting the season with a dominant car and Verstappen being able to manage a comfortable lead. So much the better for the suspense.
Hilton Leon
02/02/2025 at 10:49 a.m.
If he says it, it must be true! Unless he settles his scores with Horner and Waché. And if he was the first to see it, why didn't he do anything at the end of 1. Funny and two-faced like an Englishman.