Adrian Newey says Red Bull were right to push the technical regulations to the very limit during the 2012 season, despite coming under fire from their rivals.
The Milton Keynes outfit were at the centre of seveal controversies which led to the sports governing body clarifying the rules on three occasions. Red Bull were also forced to adapt their car to comply.
Newey, chief technical officer at Red Bull, insists their car was legal throughout the season and they were correct to push the limit of the rules in order to gain an advantage.
Red Bull’s 2012 controversies:
The team were ordered to change a hole at the rear of their floor, their wheel hubs and engine mapping settings.
“It seemed like every race we were accused of doing something illegal,” he said.
“The car of course was using the regulations to the edge, that’s to me what you should do in Formula 1.”
The term ‘spirit of the rules’ is often bandied about in F1, but Newey says such a things doesn’t exist.
“There’s no such thing as the spirit of the regulations, it’s the black and white print of ‘you can’t do this, you can do that.’ We took the can do bits right to the edge.
“The bottom line is the car was legal, [and] we won the races.”
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