HELMUT MARKO MAKES ADRIAN NEWEY CLAIM WITH FANS’ RED BULL THEORY ADDRESSED

Helmut Marko has dismissed the theory that Adrian Newey’s departure has had a direct impact on the Red Bull RB20’s recent F1 2024 woes.

Having enjoyed the most successful season in history in 2023, winning all but one race as Max Verstappen secured a third consecutive World Championship, Red Bull had been expected to dominate once again in F1 2024.

Adrian Newey Red Bull RB20 theory rejected by Helmut Marko

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Yet after starting the season with four wins from the first five races, Red Bull have slumped in the face of a renewed threat from the likes of McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari.

Verstappen has won none of the last six races, his longest drought since 2020, with his last victory occurring at the Spanish Grand Prix in Barcelona on June 23.

Red Bull’s struggles coincided with the news of Newey’s exit in early May, with the team winning just three of the last 10 races since the 65-year-old announced his departure just days before the Miami Grand Prix.

Newey is expected to join Aston Martin, with PlanetF1.com reporting on Tuesday that the F1 design legend is set to put pen to paper on a three-year contract -worth a reported $100million – later this week.

Aston Martin are poised to confirm the signing of Newey ahead of next weekend’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with the terms of his Red Bull exit – negotiated by the former F1 team owner Eddie Jordan – understood to prevent him from announcing his next move until September 6 at the earliest.

Newey is poised to begin work with his new team following his Red Bull departure in March 2025, with Jordan striking a deal to allow him to sidestep the period of gardening leave commonplace in F1 staff contracts.

Writing in his Speedweek column following the Italian Grand Prix, Marko insisted that Red Bull’s decline is not linked to the loss of Newey.

And he compared the teams current struggles to the woes previously experienced by Mercedes and Ferrari, who initially struggled to get to grips with the demands of the current ground-effect rules.

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Marko said: “Of course, there is an opinion among fans that our relapse has something to do with the departure of Adrian Newey.

“But that’s not true. Newey was no longer involved in all the details of vehicle development back in the spring.

“Which of course cannot be denied: Newey is Newey, a man with incredible experience, that has always characterised him.

“But our problem lies elsewhere. The examples of Mercedes and, to a lesser extent, Ferrari have shown how teams struggle when dealing with these wing cars.

“But I remain optimistic: we have a very broad-based technical team and I am convinced that we can solve this problem.”

Red Bull’s struggles come after the team opted to follow a new design concept for the F1 2024 season, opting against building on the success of last year’s RB19, statistically the most successful car in the sport’s history.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com at July’s Belgian Grand Prix, technical director Pierre Waché acknowledged that Red Bull had pushed the limits too far in some areas with the RB20.

He said: “I think we pushed the boundary a little bit high and in some areas, maybe too much, and that has created some characteristics that are not designed for the driver.

“The success is coming, not by yourself, it is also coming by the relative performance to the others.

“Last year, we were fortunate that the others didn’t do as good a job as they have done this year, I think that is also an aspect we have to take into account.

“RB20 is a better car than RB19 – however, maybe we could do a better job and that’s what we are trying to fix for the end of the season and for next year, to give the driver a better tool to be able to fight.”

Waché went on to also play down the significance of Newey’s departure and said Red Bull are well placed to cope without him and claimed his exit offers a chance for the team to bring through fresh talent.

“It’s a challenge in the company and it’s a shame that he’s leaving,” Waché said. “But, at one point, we move forward.

“As an engineering team, what you see from outside is one aspect but, on our side, we already know [when] people leave the team, we have already organised ourselves with our team.

“We would prefer him with us, but that is not how it is.

“We don’t think in this way, we try to see what you can do for yourself and how you can improve.

“If we see some weaknesses, we try to improve and this is how we work – we concentrate on what we can do better.”

Asked if a new era is starting at Red Bull, he added: “For sure, but it’s not [new].

“Before, we had Peter Prodromou, who left after 2014. Mark Ellis [left after 2013].

“It’s the nature of the team, and the leaders who left – they were a leader in their area. But it’s a natural aspect of each organisation.

“For sure, [Adrian] was a big figure of the system. But at one point, we give a chance to the younger, bright people to embrace this challenge, like I have now.

“Some people like Enrico [Balbo, head of aero], Ben Waterhouse [head of performance engineering], Craig [Skinner, chief designer], Paul [Monaghan, chief engineer], it is good for the people and for the team.”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com, Verstappen was adamant that he “always” wanted Newey to remain with Red Bull.

He said: “I’ve always said that I would have liked for Adrian to stay. Always.

“But it’s not about that now, because last year we had a great car, which was the most dominant car ever, and we basically turned it into a monster.

“So we have to turn it around.”

2024-09-05T07:04:12Z dg43tfdfdgfd