Red Bull’s legendary F1 car designer Adrian Newey pushed hard to score a Renault engine for 2007.
That is the admission of Mark Webber, who said in Melbourne at the launch of the 2007 Australian grand prix that he is buoyed by Newey’s confidence about the new engine supplier.
Red Bull was Ferrari-powered in 2006 but the Maranello built engine will be used by sister team Toro Rosso next year.
30-year-old Webber said: “Adrian was very, very keen to get that engine – the package with that engine is very good.”
Newey’s raft of championship winning Williams cars in the 1990s were powered by the French car manufacturer’s F1 units.
“The Renault engine is very, very strong,” Webber, who is switching from Williams to Milton-Keynes based Red Bull Racing, continued.
“(In Newey) we have got one of the best guys in the world, if not the best, working on the car.”
Red Bull’s 2007 car will be up and running in January, but Webber will test for the team for the first time later this month.
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
As mentioned in The Newey Factor before the advent of the 2006 season, Adrian Newey was one of only two designers who designed championship-winning cars in the twelve years spanning 1992 to 2004. Adrian Newey did so for Williams and McLaren. The other was South African Rory Byrne, who designed every car Michael Schumacher took to a Formula One world championship, both for Benetton and for Ferrari.
It is also worth noting that, since Adrian Newey left Williams, they have not won a championship, nor has Ferrari since Rory Byrne stepped away from the design coalface. – Ed
