Christian Horner claims Red Bull NOT dependent on Adrian Newey for F1 dominance

Red Bull celebrating the win of Max Verstappen in Spain — Photo: © LAT Images

F1 News & Gossip

Horner claims Red Bull NOT dependent on one person for F1 dominance

The Red Bull boss believes a team effort has led to their supremacy in F1

Shay Rogers

Thursday 9 November 2023 11:57

After enjoying one of the most dominant seasons in Formula 1 history, Christian Horner has downplayed Red Bull's reliance on Adrian Newey since their first title with Max Verstappen in 2021.

Red Bull's dominance of F1 has been pinned largely on both the driving abilities of Verstappen and the car that the team have produced for him.

Adrian Newey has been with Red Bull since 2006, a year after they entered Formula 1

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A lot of credit for the RB19's rocketship design has fallen the way of Newey, who has played an instrumental role in the team's recent success.

Yet Horner has now revealed that after a cycling accident in 2021, the rest of the team have had to step up.

Horner: Machine isn’t dependent on one individual

Speaking to the Telegraph, Horner said that Newey’s involvement in other projects means that he ‘can’t be everywhere’.

“It’s the perfect scenario,” he said. “We’ve built a machine that isn’t dependent on one individual but which enables Adrian to feed in and out, to mentor, to challenge ideas and so on.

“I suppose it’s evolved over the last four or five years as Adrian has become involved in other projects. He can’t be everywhere.

Pierre Wache has been at the forefront of Red Bull's title winning efforts over the last few seasons

“But as he’s taken on a broader role the rest of the group has had to evolve and develop. Particularly after Adrian’s [cycling] accident in 2021, the guys really had to step up with the design of RB18.

“Pierre [Wache] did a great job in doing that. On a day-to-day basis, that is Pierre’s responsibility now, his accountability. The relationship between the two of them is strong. Honestly, I think it’s the strongest engineering team we’ve ever had.”

The all conquering RB19 will go down as one of the best cars in Formula 1 history

With the RB20 around the corner, Newey and Horner will be hopeful that Red Bull can deliver yet another successful project to help propel them to a third consecutive constructors' title.