Adrian Newey is without doubt one of the most genius individuals to ever involve himself in motorsport, with the Brit being responsible for designing countless title winning cars.
It was Newey’s designs that led Williams to multiple titles during the 90’s and he then moved on to McLaren, where he also led them to a number of drivers’ and constructors’ championships.
The genius was then headhunted by Red Bull when they entered the sport in the mid 2000’s, giving him the task of taking the midfield team to title winning glory.
Newey did exactly that, creating a series of F1 cars that made Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel almost unbeatable, allowing the German to win four consecutive drivers’ championships.
READ: Lewis Hamilton refuses to share ‘further information’ on Manchester United takeover
After a spell of dominance by Mercedes, Newey has allowed Red Bull to rise from the ashes, with Max Verstappen winning the last two drivers’ championships while the constructors’ championship finally returned to Milton Keynes last year.
This year however, Newey will be stepping away from some of his involvement with Red Bull, as he chooses to pursue some of his other interests and projects.
While many teams may be licking their lips at the chance to capitalise on Red Bull’s loss making them weaker, team principal Christian Horner has claimed that his team will actually be stronger than ever this season.
“In recent years, Adrian has stepped away from day-to-day responsibility in Formula 1 and splits his time between Red Bull Advanced Technology and Formula 1,” he told Auto Motor und Sport.
“He has encyclopaedic knowledge and what we’ve seen over the last few years, how fantastic it is that the technical team led by Pierre [Wache] with Enrico Balbo, Ben Waterhouse and Craig Skinner have really stepped up.
“I really think it’s the strongest technical team we’ve ever had and that’s what allowed Adrian to do the Valkyrie project and now the RB17. Of course Adrian is still there, but not all the days.
READ: Charles Leclerc gives update on Ferrari contract negotiations
“Maybe 50 percent of your time is focused on Formula 1. You are probably in the office a few days a week on average. If your attention is needed, the technical team can call you.”
Red Bull will be hoping that Newey has waved his magic wand over the RB19 ahead of this upcoming season, as the team have had to work with a 10 percent reduction in wind tunnel testing time as punishment for breaching the 2021 cost cap.
With Mercedes and Ferrari looking to capitalise on this, the 2023 season could be one of the most competitive and exciting yet.