Former F1 world champion insists Red Bull guru Newey has BIZARRE driver preference

Adrian Newey loves to work with Finnish drivers in particular, according to two-time world champion Mika Hakkinen.

The Red Bull designer has created some of F1's most dominant cars, including this year's RB19 which hasn't been beaten in the opening 12 races of the 2023 campaign.

The likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have won multiple world titles thanks to Newey's brilliance, who worked at McLaren prior to his switch to Red Bull.

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It was at Woking where he and Hakkinen worked together and the Finn knows that Newey appreciated his straight-forwardness.

Hakkinen: We don't goof around

"Adrian values ​​Finnish drivers enormously," Hakkinen said to Iltalehti.

"He likes that when we give feedback about our car, we only talk about the point and don't goof around unnecessarily."

Kimi Raikkonen, another Finnish world champion, also benefitted from Newey's excellence during his early days at McLaren and he is as straightforward as they come.

Vettel and Verstappen have both proven to be great allies to Newey at Red Bull but he has a preference to work with the no-nonsense Finns.

READ MORE: Former world champion believes EVERY F1 driver is better than he ever was

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