According to a recent report by Auto Motor Und Sport, F1 has been considering a potential ban on DRS use during the qualifying sessions. Soon after, speculations suggested that Red Bull would suffer the most if this new rule comes into effect. However, Motorsport Italy now reports Mika Hakkinen believes that Adrian Newey will still be able to produce a car worthy of winning with or without the DRS.
Many consider the Chief Technical Officer of Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey, as one of the best minds in the F1 when it comes to designing a car. The supposed ‘Aero-God’ of F1 has been pivotal in helping Red Bull develop a car that has outperformed every other car on the grid with ease. Not only has Newey played a crucial role in designing the RB19, but he was also the man responsible for designing the McLaren MP4/13 and 14- the cars which helped Mika Hakkinen win both his world titles.
Despite Red Bull pulling together as a team and winning all the races so far this season, Hakkinen only chooses to focus on one man. The former world champion has shown immense faith in Newey and believes he will continue to deliver top-performing cars no matter what.
Mika Hakkinen believes DRS ban will not affect Red Bull
Hakkinen recently spoke to Motorsport Italy about the brilliance of Red Bull CTO Newey. Hakkinen claimed he knows Newey well enough to have immense faith in his skills. Especially since Newey was responsible for building the cars that earned Hakkinen both his Championships.
“I know Adrian Newey well, his cars have won my two world titles. Whenever there are technical changes, he comes up with a winning project, he finds solutions within the new rules.”
The Finnish former driver also admitted to knowing Red Bull would be “super fast” this season. After watching the team’s test runs in Bahrain, the two-time world champion says he understood the cars would be fast. The credit for this again goes to Newey, who has been with Red Bull since 2006, working hard to deliver a championship-winning car.
Hakkinen would be glad if he were in Verstappen’s position
Continuing his conversation, Hakkinen addressed Max Verstappen’s domination in the 2023 season. On his way to a third successive championship after winning 10 out of 12 races so far, Hakkinen finds it hard to label a singular reason behind the winning run. Nevertheless, he admits that he “would have been delighted” if he had been in Verstappen‘s place.
Throughout the season, Red Bull’s dominance has largely been credited to its extremely efficient DRS. In fact, Sky Sports F1’s Karun Chandhok mentioned the team has a ten percent advantage over their competitors when deploying the DRS.
