Red Bull says chief technical officer Adrian Newey immediately identified its Formula 1 car set-up woes when he returned to action in Turkey following a serious bike accident.
Newey was absent from four races when the F1 season resumed from the annual summer break after injuring himself in a cycling crash.
But after undergoing treatment in hospital and a lengthy recovery period, Newey was back in the Red Bull garage at the Turkish Grand Prix.
Newey’s comeback has come at a key time for Red Bull amid its title fight with Mercedes, with the team’s motorsport advisor Helmut Marko admitting it has felt his absence despite its breadth of talent.
Speaking to Sky Germany, Marko said that while Newey wasn’t 100% fully fit, he was already having an impact on the team’s performance after it struggled with understeer on Istanbul’s track surface.
“We are well positioned in terms of breadth, but of course Newey is the figurehead,” said Marko, when asked how Newey’s absence affected the team.
“In the early stages we didn’t know how serious the injury was, and he had to have several operations.
“But now he is back. I don’t want to say he’s fully fit, but he is there to do his job and he also immediately recognised the difficulties we had in the set-up.”
Marko revealed that a series of meetings with Max Verstappen at its Milton Keynes base have been planned in order for the Dutchman to sit down with Newey and work on getting the car in the best shape for the final six races.
Verstappen retook the lead in the drivers’ standings after a second place finish in Turkey, finishing three places ahead of title rival Lewis Hamilton who could only recover to fifth from 11th on the grid after a 10-place penalty for an engine change.
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