Newey beams: 'Came close to having a heart attack'

Adrian Newey is still shaking from this Sunday afternoon in Abu Dhabi at the Yas Marina Circuit. The designer of the RB16B didn't think a world title was possible anymore, but Nicholas Latifi changed everything. And so, for Red Bull, things have changed for the better this season.

"I mean you have so many emotions in a race like that. The laps before the safety car its looked like it slipped away from us. And that was when you start thinking about the year and what we could have done better," Newey said in an interview with Sky Sports. He goes on to say that he immediately had to think about Copse (Silverstone), because in his view something very unfair happened there.

Five laps before the flag fell, Nicholas Latifi crashed into the crash barrier and that proved to be Verstappen's salvation. "We got lucky in a sense. No two ways about it. If I reflect and of course I will be biased but Max deserved it. This is one I have come close to a heart attack," laughed Red Bull's top designer.

Verstappen gets praise

Newey also has fine words for Verstappen, who is the second Red Bull driver with a world title behind his name after Sebastian Vettel (2010, 2011, 2012 and 2013). "He's aggressive but fair. He's so easy to work with.".