Man Behind Red Bull's RB19 Car Adrian Newey Almost Quit In 2014

Sunday, 31 December 2023 at 07:00

Red Bull Racing chief technical director Adrian Newey revealed there was one point in time when leaving the Red Bull family crossed his mind.

Adrian Newey is one of the most sought-after technical directors in F1. While many teams would like to have the 65-year-old on their team, he has been loyal to Red Bull ever since 2006, when he joined the team.

Newey said he "absolutely" enjoys working with Red Bull and has no reason to change teams. But also recently revealed there was one moment when he considered switching. As quoted by motorsport.com, he said:

"The only time it came close was in 2014 and that was for completely different reasonings. Very simply, at that time, we had a power unit which wasn’t performing, which happens of course."

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Red Bull Racing won the Championship titles in four consecutive seasons from 2010 to 2013. However, everything changed in 2014 when regulations for new PUs (power units) were introduced.

Red Bull Racing purchased their PUs from Renault, which is a very well-established manufacturer. But the problem was that Mercedes built a much more powerful PU, and no team could match them, no matter how good the rest of their cars were.

"And there didn’t seem to be a huge desire from the manufacturer at the very top level – not from the guys [in the factory], but from the very top level to put the investment in to turn that around."

To win the Championship, a team needs to nail three key factors: PU, chassis, and the driver. Red Bull lagged behind significantly in terms of power unit in years after 2014. Newey added:

"So, you’re then in a bit of a depressing position where, as we all know, to win championships you’ve got to have the three key factors of driver, chassis and engine – and if one of those is weak you won’t win."