Red Bull may not be able to match their dominant 2023 exploits this year, but they’ve still started the campaign in ominous fashion. Heading into this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix, the Bulls are eyeing four wins from five.
The only race they’ve failed to win so far this year is the Australian GP, and even then Ferrari needed Max Verstappen to retire with brake issues to ensure a victory for Carlos Sainz. Sergio Perez only managed fifth, but a tear-off compromised his aerodynamic performance.
Speaking to Racing News 365, however, Adrian Newey offered a slightly worrying assessment of Red Bull’s trajectory. Ferrari are set to introduce a ‘massive’ upgrade to their SF-24 next month, which could deliver a two-and-a-half-tenth improvement.
Red Bull’s RB19 shattered records, winning 21 out of 22 Grands Prix over the course of the year. But Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur is confident they can win multiple races this time around.
Likewise, driver Charles Leclerc is hopeful that they will soon put Verstappen and Perez under more significant ‘pressure’ if they continue their current trajectory. The Scuderia have established themselves as the clear second-best after finishing third behind Mercedes last year.
Adrian Newey on Red Bull ‘flattening’ out
Ahead of F1’s next major rules reset in 2026, Newey feels that teams are creeping towards a similar concept with their current machinery. Red Bull have been the class of the field since the start of 2022, but that could now hurt them.
While rivals still have plenty of time in their pockets, the Milton Keynes outfit have almost maximised their package. While they brought upgrades to the last race in Japan, their performance gains are now ‘flattening’.
He said of the ‘ground effect’ cars: “They’re starting to converge now, but we’re now into that sort of: ‘okay, we’ve done some visual changes for this year scar, but the principles are the same’, so the differences are reducing internally.
“In our case, we’re struggling to find the gains, if you like, in terms of aero gains in percent per month, or whatever, are flattening, without doubt.”
When did Adrian Newey join Red Bull?
Newey left McLaren to join Red Bull for the 2006 season. He’d designed championship-winning cars for Mika Hakkinen at the end of the 1990s, and previously enjoyed success with Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Alain Prost and Nigel Mansell.
It took four years for Newey and Red Bull to build a title-worthy challenger, with Sebastian Vettel edging Fernando Alonso in 2010. That was the first of four consecutive titles before Mercedes stole a march at the beginning of the turbo/hybrid era in 2014.
In this era, it was the Bulls who were playing catch-up, and they wouldn’t close the gap until 2021 when Verstappen pipped Lewis Hamilton to the title. Newey says he was initially ‘depressed’ when reading the draft 2022 rules, but he’s mastered them to further strengthen his legacy.
The Englishman has now been involved in 14 title-winning seasons, but there’s a degree of uncertainty over whether he’ll design Red Bull’s 2026 car. Aston Martin are pushing for his signature, while Ferrari are keen too.
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