Adrian Newey claims there is still a possibility rivals will close the gap on Red Bull before the end of 2023

Adrian Newey deesn't see Red Bull dominating all 22 0f the 2023 F1 races.

Adrian Newey claims there is still a possibility rivals will close the gap on Red Bull before the end of 2023

Helmut Marko, Max Verstappen and Adrian Newey (Via IMAGO)

Adrian Newey, Chief Technology Officer of Red Bull, renowned for his engineering prowess, doesn’t outright reject the notion that his team’s dominance might end before the 2023 season draws to a close. He acknowledges the conceivable chance for other groups to narrow the distance and potentially catch up with the leading force, Red Bull.

Red Bull has established a commanding lead with 540 points and an impressive streak of wins in every race. This sheer dominance exhibited by Red Bull has prompted concerns within the F1 community, as their unparalleled performance poses a potential threat to the entertainment the race fans crave. 

Consequently, rivals have been intensifying their efforts to bridge the gap and position themselves alongside Red Bull. Adrian Newey doesn’t dismiss the possibility and suggests that many teams might already be deeply involved in preparing for next year’s competition. But despite the shift in focus, he claims that the F1 teams might have enough development plans in the pipeline to catch them.

“Possibly. I would imagine that most teams now are probably well into next year’s. So how much development other teams have got coming in between now and the end of the year? I don’t know. For us, obviously, we’re now tending to switch our focus to next year,” Newey told Autosports.com

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The cost cap penalty compels Red Bull to redirect its attention towards the 2024

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In response to the repercussions of breaching Formula One’s cost cap in 2021, Red Bull has strategically shifted its development focus towards the upcoming year’s car. Team Principal Christian Horner has emphasized the direct consequences of the imposed penalty, particularly the implications of aerodynamic testing restrictions on the team.

These constraints have led Red Bull to make a strategic shift in its approach, where the team’s crucial research and development resources are now directed away from this year’s car. Instead, their complete focus is dedicated to channeling efforts into the preparation for the challenges that lie ahead in the 2024 season. 

“We have that penalty until October this year, so particularly in terms of the amount of runs you can do per week, we are significantly down compared to second, third place and massively down compared to teams in fourth and fifth,” Horner said.

Red Bull operates under the most restricted wind tunnel time and computational fluid dynamics (CFD) freedom. Furthermore, due to its breach of the cost cap, Red Bull faces an additional 10% reduction in aerodynamic testing until October.

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