Adrian Newey, former Chief Technical Officer (CTO) for Red Bull, recently voiced concerns about the development trajectory of the team’s RB20, which he alleges were largely ignored. In reply, Christian Horner, Red Bull’s Team Principal, has countered that the issues with the car were already present during Newey’s tenure as CTO, with particular reference to 2023.
Red Bull made headlines in May last year when they announced that Newey would be leaving the team early in 2025. Before his departure, however, he would continue his involvement in the development of the RB17, Red Bull’s hypercar. Adrian Newey, a renowned figure in the industry, left the team on a high note, earning his final title, his 26th in total, after Max Verstappen clinched the F1 2024 Drivers’ Championship in a Newey-led Formula 1 vehicle.
After the announcement of the Miami Grand Prix, Newey stepped back from the team’s Formula 1 operations, passing the baton to technical director Pierre Wache. Newey’s departure coincided with a noticeable slump in Red Bull’s performance. Issues with the development of the RB20 resulted in a problematic balance, causing a “disconnected front and rear”, as Horner described it. Such issues rendered the car challenging to maneuver, costing drivers precious lap time.
This led to a troubling 10-race winless streak for Red Bull, their longest since 2020. This slump put Verstappen under intense pressure in the Drivers’ standings. At the same time, Red Bull fell behind rivals McLaren and Ferrari in the team rankings.
Newey, set to officially join Aston Martin next month, stated that he had expressed concerns about the design path, but his reservations were largely overlooked by the team. He commented to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport, “From what I could see, the 2024 car, and even in the latter stages of ’23, started to become more difficult to drive. This issue only accentuated the performance discrepancy between the team-mates, Max and Checo [Perez].”
Horner responded to Newey’s comments, stating that while he was not aware of them, he believes that Red Bull’s issues were already present in 2023 when Newey headed the design team. He noted, “I think the problems are more deep-rooted than just last year. When you delve into the data and some of the car’s characteristics, you start to see these issues manifested much earlier. Certainly during 2023.”
Horner also emphasized that the team has been working tirelessly to rectify the issues with the RB20, stating, “The team has had a productive winter. We’ll get the first real indication next week as to whether we’ve managed to address some of these issues. We made improvements during the latter third of last year, and we’ll see if we’ve managed to take a step further in these early races.”
