What do you do when the car you designed isn’t quite taking the fight to Mercedes and Ferrari? When your car is ill? Why you make an appointment to go see Dr. Newey, that’s what you do.
According to Red Bull team boss Christian Horner, premier designer Adrian Newey had a 50% hand in this year’s Formula 1 car but after the team were woefully off the pace in the first few races, Newey appeared on the pit wall, for only the second time this season, in Spain.
“He has just been listening very carefully to what the drivers have been having to say and it is a bit like a trip to the doctors.
“He has been very keen to understand what the drivers’ feedback and comments are, and I am sure he will be looking to evolve this package accordingly.
“[Over the winter] he has been involved 50% of the time in the background of this car, but since the Barcelona test he has been very involved. I think that will continue for the time being.”
I know the Renault power unit is a serious deficit right now but just how much of that can overcome through Newey genius? That’s the big question.
It will be difficult to know as Monaco is next and that’s a one-off unique circuit but how much time can Adrian claw back through micro-managing the current car design?
Hat Tip: Autosport
Red bull racing are the best funded team in F1, with a great line up of technical specialists and chief engineers, and they can’t make a competitive car without 100% input from Newey. Hummmm, things aren’t looking good for RBR, they really need to work on their technical succession planning, I guess the talent pipeline from STR is only for drivers?
I don’t agree, FARRARI and many before them has shown that no one man is an island.
Red bull has many top-notch engineers and money is no problem.
Rumors that were doing the rounds pointed to problems as regards CFD/WIND TUNNEL correlations problems, plus what they were working on/the direction they were on/taking is said to have been greatly upset by the suspension ruling.
Hi Salvu, I think you do agree with me.
Your comment is says pretty much what I think I was saying.
RBR have the people and the finances to design a top line car, without Newey, but failed to do so.
Yes they failed to do so, the problem is that some has been hard at their usual Hogwash output trying to push forward the line that the GREAT Newey input was NOT 100%.
And somehow that Renault /TAG power unit is preventing the chassis and aero from working properly too ;-)
that’s because it is carrying the extra weight of the TAG plastic sticker on both valve covers!
Surely I’m not the only one who has “Dr. Feelgood” by Motley Crue stuck in their head after reading the headline.