Newey on Red Bull’s newfound title-winning confidence 09 Dec 2009
Red Bull came so close to clinching the 2009 title that chief technical officer Adrian Newey could easily feel disappointed that they couldn’t quite wrestle the championship out of Brawn GP’s grasp. Newey, however, believes their ’09 performance has boosted the team’s confidence to such an extent that they are facing 2010 with a great deal of optimism.
“For me 2009 was a great year because, although we didn’t manage to win the championship, Red Bull Racing as a team matured to the point where we were able to win races and challenge for a championship,” said Newey in an interview with Red Bull’s press office.
"For the team to achieve that so early in its history has been very satisfying. It gives the team confidence now that they can go out and win races and field a very competitive car. How that affects our season next year remains to be seen but it has given a lot of people within the company confidence in their own ability.”
After penning winning cars for Williams, McLaren, Toro Rosso, and of course Red Bull, Newey’s own capabilities are well documented. But despite his achievements, the Briton remains just as eager for success as ever, especially when changes in the Formula One regulations call for an innovative approach to a car’s design.
“I enjoy regulation changes because it gives the opportunity to take a blue-sky approach,” he said. “I find regulations which have been for a long period of time, which was the position we got to at the end of 2008, are less interesting because it’s not then about new ideas or new understanding it’s about lots of tiny iterations and that really is a matter of resource rather than invention.”
But whilst the rule changes for 2009 were extensive, the regulation revisions for next year are much less wide-ranging. Even so, Newey has kept himself busy over the last few months developing and honing the RB5 to create its successor, the RB6.
“The main change in regulations for 2010 are much smaller than for 2009: the only ones of significance are the ban on re-fuelling and the smaller front tyre,” he added. “That’s meant we’ve gone for a much more evolutionary design route whereas the RB5 was a totally different car compared to its predecessor to satisfy a totally different set of regulations.”
So with newfound confidence inspired by their 2009 success, and a car that has developed from the race winning RB5, Red Bull already look in great shape to match - and maybe even better - their achievements this year. Newey, however, has been too long in the game to write off the team’s rivals just yet.
“It’s a new season and everything as usual is up for grabs - it may be that other people have made big strides over the winter and so how we all start the season remains to be seen," he concluded.
