“Right now we are not fighting against Vettel, now we fight Adrian Newey and at the moment we cannot deal with him”: these were the words of Fernando Alonso in 2012 after qualifying for the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The two-time world champion Formula 1who entered the final race of the season as the favorite to win the crown, put up a tense fight against Sebastian Vettel with a Ferrari at a clear disadvantage in terms of performance compared to the Red Bull from German.
Well, analyzing the upcoming season of 2023, Jean-Alesian expilot of the ‘Scuderia’ between 1989 and 1995, has become ‘an Alonso’ and has remarked that “The real factor to consider is Adrian Newey”.
“There are two competitors to consider. Red Bull, which is currently the absolute leader in Formula 1 and is incredibly strong on all terrains. Also, Mercedes. They are going strong, especially after Russell’s win in Brazil. I don’t think they make a mistake twice when designing a car”, he has pointed out in statements to ‘Autosprint’.
According to the pilot, Charles Leclerc, Carlos Sainz and Ferrari They do not compete against Verstappen, but against the great ‘guru’ of engineering in F1.
“If you really look at how things are, the real factor to consider is Adrian Newey. Since F1 announced there were new rules and engineers were given freedom, Newey has been making a difference“, has explained.
“Newey has become a decisive factor, because he is capable like no other of continuing to improve the car during the seasonEven if they are only small changes. In the end they are small gains. That’s why I don’t think it’s a battle between Verstappen and Leclerc, but fundamentally between Newey and Ferrari,” he added.
“If he presents a masterpiece again, everything will be very difficult again this year. On the other hand, if this year’s Red Bull car has something fallible and fragile, things could change. In any case, let’s not forget that, things go well or badly, Newey is a fundamental factor to win or lose“, has settled.
