For Red Bull, an era in Formula 1 has come to an end. After over 16 years of collaboration, Adrian Newey and the Austrian team decided to part ways. The brilliant English designer was likely worn out by the toxic environment in Milton Keynes, which developed due to the investigation involving Christian Horner. Perhaps the mutual respect that had always defined the professional relationship between the team’s CEO and the design genius had diminished. The upcoming season will be crucial in demonstrating the team’s ability to remain at the top of the category.
This comes at a time when the team will face the challenge without the designer who conceived and oversaw the construction of the cars that have filled the team’s trophy cabinet. It is hard to deny that the decline of the Red Bull RB20 during the past season, coinciding with Newey’s departure, was a coincidence too evident to be overlooked. Although Max Verstappen secured his fourth world title, with a truly outstanding performance driven by his immense talent, the team’s results after the Austrian Grand Prix were undeniably concerning.
The victory in the night race at Losail, the Qatar Grand Prix, was reassuring because, beyond the undeniable value added by the Dutch driver, the RB20 seemed to return to its role as a protagonist. However, the aerodynamic paradigm of the Austrian car appears to have reached its physical limits, at least in terms of potential. Since the presentation, Adrian Newey had feared that the 2024 technical project was too conservative and that competitors would soon catch up. This prophecy has proven to be accurate.
F1, Red Bull: The track is the only certainty
The team led by Christian Horner is, alongside Mercedes, one of the teams entering the next season with the least certainty. This is due to the competitive performances shown by Ferrari and especially the super McLaren in the latter part of the 2024 season. It will be the last year under the current set of regulations, which will force all teams to extract new potential from their technical projects. This is a major issue for the engineers at the blue racing team: does the aerodynamic philosophy of the RB20 still have room for growth? The development of the car used in the previous campaign suggests otherwise.
If this suspicion proves true, the RB21 will inevitably become a technical project marking a significant break from the design philosophy adopted since 2022. Regarding the upcoming car, Christian Horner’s preview is very interesting: “This is the first time Adrian hasn’t had any input on the car. It’s up to the team to take on the challenge. I’m confident they can do it. They have the strength and capability, and we’ll see what the RB21 will be like when it’s unveiled at the end of January.” The shift in direction compared to the past is striking.
Under Adrian Newey’s management, the team would use every available moment right up until the unveiling of the new F1 car. This approach, on more than one occasion, caused significant headaches, especially when crash tests were failed. According to the Red Bull Racing boss, the car will be presented in January, even before the collective event in London in mid-February. This acceleration in the design and production process of the new car allows for many interpretations in our view.
Certainly, the team from Milton Keynes will make use of the first filming day available during the 2025 racing season to begin the process of understanding the RB21. This move aims to get ahead of the competition. Essentially, it is about starting to study the car before others. The goal is clear: to receive immediate feedback on the data correlation between the usual virtual context developed in the simulator and wind tunnel, and the real-world performance on track. This head start compared to the typical roadmap will be highly beneficial, there’s no denying it.
It will allow Red Bull to begin the developmental (or corrective) work on the RB21 as early as the Bahrain tests. In essence, the January debut confirms the sense that the team needs, first and foremost, to regain certainty regarding what is being decided by their technical departments. In the past, Adrian Newey provided that assurance, but now, more than ever, only the track can confirm the validity of the designs. In this sense, the rush to bring the first car after Adrian to the track makes logical sense, given his departure to Aston Martin.
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