Red Bull boosted by FIA rule change as F1 rivals’ advantage taken away
Red Bull’s RB19 is unrivaled in race pace for the 2023 season and car design legend Adrian Newey believes the FIA rule changes have benefited his team.
Adrian Newey believes Red Bull benefited from the FIA rule changes last year (
Red Bull constructor Adrian Newey believes changes to Formula 1 rules have helped his team take control of the championship in 2023.
Red Bull enjoyed an unbeaten season, well ahead of their rivals in terms of race pace. In just a rare weekend for a champion, another team won the Singapore Grand Prix as Carlos Sainz won.
Otherwise, it was a perfect season for the Milton Keynes side. And their dominance allowed them to steer development towards the 2024 car much earlier than their competitors.
They succeeded despite changes to the rules regarding the car’s rear axle height on the track. The ‘flutter’ phenomenon seen on the 2022 model has been eliminated, the rear floor has been raised by 15mm and the speaker height has also been raised.
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In an interview with The Race, Newey admitted that some of his colleagues were concerned that it would negatively impact their work. But he saw reason to advise the team not to oppose the change.
“What’s interesting is that there were internal discussions when the changes were announced last year,” he said. “Some of our people said, ‘No, we really have to fight this.’
“But last year we thought we were behind Ferrari in the fast corners. This casing change was probably good for us as our car was struggling at very high speeds. So I didn’t put much effort into it. It felt right for us.”
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