Andretti on Red Bull's issues: 'That's when it all started to go wrong'
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- Nicole Mulder
The way Red Bull Racing began the 2024 Formula One season, it seemed like Max Verstappen's team could be on their way to dominate the field again. A few months later, now the Austrians are struggling. The team's decline began around the time Adrian Newey announced his departure, and coincidence or not, racing legend Mario Andretti believes the designer never got the appreciation he deserved.
Andretti: 'When Newey distanced himself, things went wrong at Red Bull'
In an exclusive interview with GPblog, Andretti discussed the decline of Red Bull, as the team managed to put together the most dominant year in 2023. "I'm going to say something that I feel, again, that whether it's by coincidence or not, but the minute that Adrian Newey distanced himself [from] the team, things started to go wrong," says the driver crowned F1 world champion in 1978.
"In my opinion he was never given credit due for his ability to really do magic things in Formula One. Obviously I'm a big, big Adrian Newey fan because I worked with him even at the beginning of his career. I’ve never worked with anyone that I felt understood me clearly [at] every moment when I was out there. I've never worked with anyone like that. His abilities are something that are incredible," he continued.
'Aston Martin will be very happy with Newey'
Once Newey has closed the door behind him at Red Bull, he will embark on a new adventure at Aston Martin. Lawrence Stroll's team had a big announcement events at their Silverstone headquarters. The 65-year-old Briton's new role will be managing technical partner and will also become a shareholder - and thus co-owner - of the team.
"Aston Martin will be very, very fortunate to have him on the team. You could say, how could this happen so quickly? But it's happened and it's gotten worse and worse. Okay, Christian Horner, maybe you should have given him more credit," the 84-year-old American argues.
The team of Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll call themselves "the F1 team of the future". They have invested heavily invested in their technical staff and will have Honda power units from 2026 onwards, as they hope to grow into a frontrunner team. Andretti sees no reason why that would not be possible.
"Well, why not? Yes, the possibilities are there. It's a solid team. They have, apparently, a great facility and everything else. So they're very set up strongly for the future. Yes, absolutely. That could happen," he concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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7 October 2024
