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“Starts to Become Like WWF”- Adrian Newey on F1’s Current State and Why the Sport Isn’t Competitive

Somin Bhattacharjee
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“Starts to Become Like WWF”- Adrian Newey on F1’s Current State and Why the Sport Isn’t Competitive

Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s dominance in F1 is the only complaint the community has against the sport’s current state. Bringing back the V8/V10 engines, reintroducing smaller and lighter cars, and showboating are all topics of discussion among the fanbase, which Adrian Newey speaks about in a recent interview.

Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer, Newey, has been in F1 since 1988 and has seen the sport change drastically over the years. However, he feels that F1 is in its “most restrictive” era at the moment, with a wide variety of regulations and a cost cap to take care of. These came into effect to make the sport competitive, and the smaller teams should have benefitted from it on paper. Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case.

Speaking to Autosport, Newey says, “The competitive order under the cost cap hasn’t changed significantly.” On the other hand, there isn’t much F1 or the FIA can do, unless they start adding fake elements to the sport, to ensure competitiveness.

Entertainment and competitiveness cannot go hand in hand according to the 65-year-old. “Unless you make it artificial, which then starts to become like WWF, then I’m not sure you can,” said Newey. By mentioning WWF, Newey wants to bring the world of pro wrestling into light, where results and incidents taking place on live television are pre-decided.

The sport’s governing bodies and teams have different objectives when it comes to racing. Newey further speaks about both of them.

Adrian Newey on why competitiveness is difficult in F1

Newey gives his insight into why technical regulations exist in F1. According to the Red Bull chief, FIA wants the sport to remain competitive. They want a spectacle, and more fans to tune in which is only possible with good-quality racing.

On the other hand, a team doesn’t care about the spectacle. For a team and its engineers, the biggest objective is to build a car, that ideally dominates the rest of the grid, and helps them win all races in a season. These two things cannot go hand in hand, which is when the Brit talks about the unrealistic possibility of scripting results.

Newey has witnessed several eras, and some of them were incredibly boring from a spectator’s point of view. However, he adds that changes are constant in F1, and with time, the baton of a ‘dominant team’ gets passed on to someone else.

Post Edited By:Aishwary Gaonkar

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Basketball Editor Somin Bhattacharjee first discovered the game during the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Not long after, he turned to the NBA and found himself drawn to the Golden State Warriors — right at the start of Stephen Curry’s rise. Over time, the admiration turned into full-blown support for the team, one that continues even as the Curry era approaches its twilight. A true hoophead, Somin also follows EuroLeague basketball closely and enjoys exploring the game beyond the NBA. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. Since 2021, he has penned over 3,000 articles for TheSportsRush, covering everything from breaking news to sharp opinion pieces and detailed exclusives. He thrives on writing about in-game moments and the reactions that make basketball a uniquely emotional sport. Beyond basketball, Somin plays different sports including soccer and remains a passionate fan of Spanish football giants Real Madrid

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