“They have a big influence” – Adrian Newey glad to have a non-Red Bull academy driver in Sergio Perez after Mark Webber and DC

Subham Jindal | 18/08/2021
"They have a big influence" - Adrian Newey glad to have a non-Red Bull academy driver in Sergio Perez after Mark Webber and DC

“They have a big influence” – Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey reveals the benefits of having someone like Sergio Perez on the team.

Sergio Perez has had a stellar first season with Red Bull so far, winning a race and complimenting Max Verstappen well. This has allowed the team to take on Mercedes and hopefully break their dominance over the constructors’ championship.

Perez has joined after racing for the likes of McLaren and Force India (now Aston Martin), with only Mark Webber and David Coulthard to have joined from outside the Red Bull ranks. And this has been beneficial for the team from a technical point of view, as explained by CTO Adrian Newey.

“They have a big influence.

“The fact is that from the data we measure on the car from the hundreds of sensors we have on aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics etcetera, they kind of tell you what the car is doing but it is the driver who is much better at telling you why it is doing it.

“It is then a matter of trying to marry the driver’s comments to the sensors. I think that is one of the fascinating bits of the sport is trying to factor in the human input into what is otherwise a data driver exercise.

“So yes, their comments are very important and having Sergio join us this year with his experience from other teams is also very useful.

“It is not since we had Mark and DC that we have had drivers that have not come through the Red Bull driver programme, so having experience from other teams just gives a different perspective and input to what we had from the other guys.”

Also Read “That’s exactly what happened”– Adrian Newey discloses Red Bull’s journey to be fastest car in 2021

Post Edited By: Subham Jindal
Red Bull Sergio Perez

About the author

Subham Jindal

A Red - be it Manchester United or Ferrari. Hails from the hills of Kalimpong, Darjeeling. Aspiring to become a respected Sports Management professional.

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