Praise for Newey exaggerated? "I think too often he gets too much credit"

When Red Bull's car is fast, it's often thanks to top aerodynamicist Adrian Newey. But according to Viaplay analyst Kees van de Grint, the Red Bull chief gets too much credit for his work.

With the new regulations in place for the 2022 season, the aerodynamics departments of F1 teams have had a lot of work to do again. At Red Bull Racing, eyes are on Newey at such a time. This year, a lot of changes have been made especially to the floor and side pods of the cars and Newey has also applied some new tricks to the RB18. The British engineer received a lot of praise for this in Barcelona, but at Viaplay tire specialist Van de Grint says that the engineer gets too much credit for his work.

Van de Grint and Albers disagree about Newey

Christijan Albers starts about Newey: "Look at the side pod for example. That's a really nice idea from Newey. It's a lot further back compared to the rest of the grid." The Dutch former F1 driver is further impressed with the wings on the RB18's side mirrors and the floor. Van de Grint seems impressed with the RB18, but on the other hand not so impressed with Newey: "I think it's all so exaggerated. It is down to the team. I think Newey gets too much credit too often."

Van de Grint indicates that he also sees this at other teams and thinks back to his time working with Ferrari for Bridgestone. In addition, Van de Grint cites an example in Dutch football: "Ten Hag also gets more credit at Ajax than his assistants." Albers counters his interlocutor: "Everywhere Newey goes, the car is aggressive." Indeed, the heads of each department often seem to get all the praise in Formula 1; after all, they also have the final responsibility.