Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer Adrian Newey believes the team has faced a level of “politicking and lobbying” against its RB16B that he has never before experienced in Formula 1.
Red Bull has been locked in a fierce fight with Mercedes across the opening half of the 2021 season and has taken six victories to the four amassed by the reigning champions.
But Red Bull trails Mercedes in the standings in the wake of successive grands prix in Britain and Hungary marred by incidents involving Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
Off-track there have also been terse words exchanged between the title rivals, most notably over the flexi-wings saga, which triggered a Technical Directive from the FIA.
Speaking in an in-house interview produced by Red Bull, long-time technical chief Newey said: “In many ways it is a compliment to the team to find ourselves under such scrutiny from others.
“We have experienced this before but I can’t remember a time when we have received the same level of behind the scenes politicking and lobbying against our car.
“Possibly if you look back to when we were exploring aeroelastics in 2010/2011 then we were under constant scrutiny and would adapt to each changing set of regulations.
“We’ve been here before in the last championship battles with Ferrari which involved some rows over bodywork flexibility as well.
“I never particularly like the war analogy – but it is a decent analogy, and you have to look at every aspect you can to improve your competitive position. That is the nature of Formula 1, and one of the things that makes it so stimulating, but it is the frequency and intensity of this year that is quite telling.”
Red Bull trails Mercedes by 12 points, having previously held a 44-point advantage, following a run of five straight wins between Monaco and Austria.
Newey has nonetheless backed Red Bull to rebound from its recent setbacks.
“The last couple of races have been very painful for us after hitting a sweet spot over the France-Styria-Austria triple-header,” he said.
“It really does highlight how quickly things can change. Things were looking very good, particularly after the Austrian Grand Prix, and we had a decent lead in the two championships: two races later we’re slightly behind in both which is more painful when it is through no fault of our own.
“That’s the nature – and the competitiveness – of the sport we’re in. We just have to keep our heads down and keep pushing.”
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