“We had a few little problems,” Adrian Newey reveals the stressful situation that Red Bull had to face during practice for the Bahrain GP

Adrian Newey talks in detail about the stressful situation at Red Bull during the practice session at the Bahrain GP.

“We had a few little problems,” Adrian Newey reveals the stressful situation that Red Bull had to face during practice for the Bahrain GP

Christian Horner and Adrian Newey

Red Bull and Adrian Newey ended the 2023 Season opening Bahrain GP with a bang. The team enjoyed a 1-2 finish showcasing their true aero performance and engine reliability to the whole world. While their end to the weekend went smoothly, the same couldn’t be said for the start. The Aero Chief even went on to imply that there was no guarantee that the  team would dominate. 

After years of wait, Red Bull Racing finally has the pedigree as they have been the ones to beat in 2021 and 2022. The same could be said for the 2023 season. Max Verstappen was locked in a title fight with Lewis Hamilton wherein the former went on to win the championship in 2021. Last season was also an easy victory for the Dutch driver as he went on to win 15 out of the 2022 races in total. The dominance portrayed by the Dutch maestro was mesmerising. 

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While some praise the driver for his performances, many don’t seem to forget how important of a role Adrian Newey played in the car’s aero development. However, the start of the Bahrain GP race weekend had put the aero legend and the whole team in a stressful situation. This issue was mainly connected to the reliability of the car. The team had suffered a DNF due to being unreliable last year in Bahrain. 

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Adrian Newey was stressed during Free Practice for the Bahrain GP

Christian Horner, Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey
Christian Horner, Sebastian Vettel and Adrian Newey

In the F1 nation podcast, here is what he had to say. “I do have to admit that during the first practice session the laughter was a bit lost on us because we had a few little problems ,” Newey explained. “In terms of reliability, there was an unexpected problem on Friday, which left us facing extra work. From the outside, things may have seemed smooth, but quite a lot was happening under the surface on Friday and Saturday,” he said.

“Based on this one race, everything seems to have worked pretty well,” Newey acknowledges. “Although this circuit does have some quirks. So we have to be careful, keep both feet on the ground and keep pushing. But I have to admit that it is a relief that we won the first race,” he continued. 

The 2023 season has started off with a bang. Adrian and Red Bull have yet again showed the F1 paddock how dominant they are after bagging a 1-2 finish in the season opening race. Nevertheless, Adrian Newey is not ready to admit that they have the best car this season. The Aero maestro is determined to make sure that Red Bull’s 2023 challenger will leave everyone in the dust. 

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