F1 News: Adrian Newey admits CONCERNS over Red Bull losing advantage

adrian newey at Red Bull — Photo: © IMAGO

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Newey admits CONCERNS over Red Bull losing advantage

The performance of the RB19 had Red Bull concerned going into the season

By Tyler Rowlinson.

Wednesday 14 February 2024 23:57

Adrian Newey has admitted that a lack of serious changes to Formula 1 regulations between 2022 and 2023 left him concerned that last season's RB19 might struggle.

The changes between 2021 and 2022 were vast, but Newey has admitted that he was concerned that the RB19 would be an 'evolution car', and Red Bull's advantage could be diminished.

The new regulations marked the end of the turbo-hybrid era and brought about a new generation of cars, which Red Bull took advantage of and provided a car that gave Max Verstappen his second world title in comfortable fashion.

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But heading into 2023, there was little to no changes to the rules, leaving the team concerned about whether they would tail off with the RB19.

That would prove not to be the case as the Dutchman was even more dominant than the previous year, cruising to the title with 19 wins out of a possible 22.

Max Verstappen has completely dominated F1 in recent years

Red Bull took advantage of the new regulations and were miles ahead of their rivals

But Adrian Newey admitted that there were some fears heading into 2023

Newey: RB19 performance eradicated fears

Speaking with Top Gear, Newry admitted that their dominance ‘eradicated’ any fears they had over the RB19 being an evolution car.

“For the ’22 season we had the biggest regulation change on the chassis side since 1983, in terms of going back to venturi cars.

“We thought as we headed into the second year, with almost no regulation change over the winter and us running what is in effect an evolution car, that our advantage would be diminished, if not eradicated. Clearly that’s not how it’s panned out.”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Formula 1 Adrian Newey