Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey believes the “politicking and lobbying” against the team has gone up a notch than in previous years.
For the first time since its last world championship success in 2013, Red Bull has a car capable of challenging for a title, ending the first half of the season almost on level terms with Mercedes.
The intensity of this year’s title battle has been seen on and off the track, leading to disagreements over legality of rear wings, tyre pressures, pitstops and on-track incidents.
While Red Bull have appeared to be the main target in these sagas, the Milton Keynes-based outfit has still won more races than any other team after the first 11 races.
Newey has been a major part of Red Bull’s success since joining in 2006 from McLaren, but says the political games going on behind-the-scenes are more than he has ever experienced in his time in Formula 1.
“In many ways it is a compliment to the team to find ourselves under such scrutiny from others,” Newey said in an interview published on the Red Bull website.
“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 F1, and one of the things that makes it so stimulating, but it is the frequency and intensity of this year that is quite telling.”
Although Newey admits the debate over flexi-wings – which was brought to attention at the Spanish Grand Prix – hurt Red Bull cost wise, he said the team’s response to the FIA’s clampdown was a great example of its spirit.
“If you take the issue with the flexible rear wing, we certainly weren’t the only team to have that issue,” Newey said.
“But of course, when Mercedes started making noise about it, they weren’t worried about what Alfa were doing. They were only worried about whether we were getting a benefit, which we really weren’t. But there was a cost implication to changing that part which obviously hurt.
“It is however a great testament to the depth of our team that we can respond to changes and is a great example of when our team is put in a corner we can come out fighting and continue to be just as competitive.”
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