Adrian Newey believes Formula 1 is lucky that two teams have designed their new cars to be very similar in performance for the start of the new regulation cycle. With F1 rolling out revolutionary rule changes for 2022 after a particularly close title fight in 2021, there were fears that a single team could steal a march and sail off into the distance at the head of the field. However, despite the turbulent rule change period, both Red Bull and Ferrari have been neck-and-neck for the first two races, with each team winning a Grand Prix after a race-long battle. Red Bull's Chief Technical Officer, Adrian Newey, explained that it's perhaps somewhat fortunate the sport ended up with two teams on level pegging. "At the moment, the lucky thing for Formula 1 is that we've got two teams, Ferrari and ourselves, who, for the first couple of races, have had very, very similar performance," he told the F1 Nation podcast. "And that's what's given the good racing, obviously."
Newey expects convergence across the F1 field
While Red Bull and Ferrari appear to have a large advantage over the next fastest team, which is currently Mercedes, Newey expects the entire field to close up over time as outfits roll out developments and start exploiting more of the potential of their designs. "Inevitably, with a big set of regulation changes like this, you have a very steep curve initially," he commented. "Gradually, over probably this season and the following season, it will start to plateau out – that's the nature of any big regulation change. "Obviously, this year is unusual compared to previous years because [of] the cost cap and the fact that we've not only got to try to develop it, but develop it within a tight budget, and that presents its own difficulties and challenges. But that's the same for everybody."
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