Adrian Newey is one of the most experienced and successful designers of all time in Formula 1. Over the years he has worked for several teams and with them several world champions. The British Red Bull Racing designer compares Max Verstappen to some of his predecessors when it comes to giving feedback.

Already 21 world titles for Newey

In 1988, Newey designed his first Formula One car, the March 881. When he transferred to Williams, the big results came. Williams won five Constructors' Championships and four Drivers' Championships. When Newey moved to McLaren in 1998, the results were immediate. Mika Hakkinen became World Champion in 1998 and 1999 and McLaren won the 1998 Constructors' Championship.

In 2006, he traded McLaren for Red Bull Racing. From 2010 to 2013, both championships are won with Sebastian Vettel. Max Verstappen secures the 21st world title in 2021 with a Newey-built car. Ten constructor titles and eleven driver titles.

Reputation Verstappen is unjustified

Newey has worked with many world champions, including his current collaboration with the brand new champion Verstappen. A collaboration that Newey likes. "His feedback is good, he knows very well what the tires do and how to handle them," quotes Speedweek.com. "I think his reputation for being wild is unjustified. He's very easy to work with, he's very open. If you ask him to do something, he will always try."

According to Newey, Ricciardo had a similar way of giving feedback. "They are good because they focus on the things you need to know. If you have questions, they're happy to sit down with you and explain. They're very easy to work with."

Raikkonen and Hakkinen men of few words

Very different was working with Finns Kimi Raikkonen and Mika Hakkinen. "The debrief consisted of about five words," says Newey. According to the designer, they also described things very differently from, say, an English driver. "It was concise, but they were very good at pointing out what they needed to get faster."

The opposite was the case with Vettel, the German was known for his very detailed analyses after a practice session. "The debriefing sessions lasted quite a while. Seb stayed until late in the evening, watching the videos on board, going through the data and talking to his engineer. It worked for him, that's not a criticism. Max is not as extreme, he's more in the middle."