Red Bull Racing (RBR) chief designer Adrian Newey says he’s never seen a season so replete with finger pointing and petty arguments from rival teams. The RBR car was heaped with allegations of illegality this year following a rash of pictures and evidence some believed proved the team was cheating or skirting the regulations.
Newey says the team took it all in stride but admitted to ITV that it was an annoyance:
“It wasn’t a distraction, but it was an annoyance,”
“I’ve got to say I’ve never known a season quite like this one for the petty finger pointing that’s gone on in the paddock.
“It’s a shame, but the bottom line is that what we’ve done with the front wing has been endlessly investigated by the press and the FIA.
“The FIA quite rightly have to look at it, as they have to take these things seriously – and what we’ve done is completely legal.”
Ultimately the team passed myriad test conducted by the regulatory body, the FIA, during the season and this is what Newey points to when discussing their legality:
“The FIA quite rightly have to look at it, as they have to take these things seriously – and what we’ve done is completely legal.”
While I am inclined to agree with him, it was a season of finger-pointing, I am not sure it is the worst case of finger-pointing I have seen. I recall several years where teams outright refused to participate should another team be allowed to race their car. Williams F1 comes to mind, over the Lotus dual-chassis issue, back in the early 1980’s and then there was the infamous moveable floor debacle with Ferrari which led to the McLaren spygate story.
What I found intriguing about the ITV story was Newey’s comments on the new 2011 regulations. They are all taking the position of restriction rather than development and progressive moves forward. One could argue that the return of KERS is a move forward but we’ve been there with suspect results in 2009.
Regardless of the allegations in 2010, Newey will face a daunting challenge to accommodate the more restrictive 2011 regulations and with Pirelli on the docket as the sole tire supplier, it will be intriguing to see if Newey can make the leap. No one is better at the business of designing F1 cars than Newey but he’s been known to go a bridge too far occasionally.
