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Adrian Newey is a huge racing fan, as well as the best aerodynamicist Formula 1 has ever seen.
The technical director of Red Bull Racing and architect of the RB19's superiority over its rivals, he sometimes races classic Ford GT40s in Great Britain and has dreams about who he would like to see together in today's F1, racing identical machines. Three names come to mind.
"It would be interesting to see veteran number one and a younger one. For example, Fernando is one of the most formidable competitors in history and perhaps famous for not getting along very well with his teammates let's say," Newey said on 'Beyond The Grid' podcast.
"Max versus Fernando, or Lewis versus Fernando again, it would be interesting to see Fernando, with all the experience he has now, if he would be different to the driver he was in 2007 with McLaren. I think he would be different, because it feels like he's softened that stance."
Verstappen's dominance
Newey also didn't overlook the tremendous performance of the current World Championship leader over his teammates. Except for his debut at Red Bull alongside Ricciardo, Max Verstappen has gotten the better of Pierre Gasly, Alex Albon and now, Checo Perez.
"Max, with his incredible skills, without wanting to do it on purpose, made Alex suffer over how he was going so fast. It was the same with Pierre. If you have two teammates, one of them is exceptional and one of them is brilliant, but without reaching that level, the latter needs to recognize that he won't be able to live up to the former, for example, as is the case with Max," Newey recalls.
In the case of Checo, he adapted well in his first year and was fundamental for Verstappen to beat Lewis Hamilton in the fight for his first title in 2021. The Mexican then started strong in the 2022 and 2023 seasons, but as the car evolves, Max has imposed his will.
Going back to the beginning, Fernando Alonso himself has said this year: "What Verstappen is doing in F1 is underestimated"; while adding "I don't know if he could beat Max with the same car".
Challenges ahead
"I do regret not having added Ferrari to my CV, although it's more of the same with Fernando and Lewis. Working with them would have been fabulous, but it never happened, the circumstances just happened that way. That's the way things are sometimes," Newey says.
"My discussions in 2014 with Ferrari were purely out of frustration.
"I really didn't want to leave but we were in this position where Renault hadn't produced a competitive turbo hybrid engine.
"That happens in the first year, OK, new rules. We all make mistakes.
"But we went to see Carlos Ghosn [disgraced former Renault CEO], Christian [Horner], Helmut [Marko] and myself to try to put pressure on him to up the budget."