Red Bull’s belated admission that they’ve fallen short of expectations is an encouraging indication of internal progress, while speaking to the complacency which has inhibited the team in recent years.
The renewed presence of Adrian Newey suggests the Milton Keynes outfit was ill prepared for life without the aerodynamic guru overseeing every step, while the former hadn’t committed himself as wholly as a regulation overhaul warrants.
It’s well documented that much of Newey’s attention has been devoted to the Aston Martin hypercar project, though it remained surprising that he wasn’t fully invested in pioneering the formula from the outset, whether he was simply uninterested, exceedingly optimistic, or both is a consideration.
A competitive 2016 campaign with the Briton in the background potentially lulled the operation into believing there was little reason to increase his commitments, despite the restored aero emphasis on which he thrives, and they’ve consequently struggled to make the inroads many believed inevitable.
Team principal, Christian Horner, remarked to motorsport.com that “in particular the early part of last year, his involvement was significantly less. The team did a great job with RB12 in developing it into a very competitive car.”
This tacitly acknowledges that Red Bull rested on its laurels rather than adopting a long-term approach, which is what transpired in 2014 as they basked in the glory of four successive titles. It also infers that Newey imposed a greater presence as the season progressed, correlating to the strong form which saw it pull clear of Ferrari, while the latter ostensibly turned its attention to 2017.
Once it became apparent at pre-season testing that the RB13 was some way adrift of the Mercedes and Ferrari challengers, Newey was sought out to bring the chassis – described as conservative, up to scratch, yet this hasn’t translated to success as the aforementioned manufacturers write their own script.
What is clear is that Newey has been unable to equate his resources to progression with the immediacy of results past, particularly amidst the unprecedented ‘arms race’ which doesn’t allow one outfit to stand still longer than a cup of tea regardless of any advantage on a given weekend.
Horner intuits that “perhaps he hasn’t followed the regulation changes as he would have done previously. So now he’s trying to bring himself up to speed as well.” It can thus be surmised that Newey is adapting ‘on the fly’ rather than implementing changes with the surety that he is accustomed to.
Newey himself states that his return to the coalface is “not what I want to be doing long-term, but I’m happy to be doing it for a period of time”, meaning his technical counterparts must be keeping a sharp eye on his philosophies to ensure a seamless continuation –whether this entails greater transparency, rather than standards, breeding fortunes, deteriorating upon his eventual retreat, as has been proven this season.
The perennial elephant in the room in Renault and its power deficiency has a portion of responsibility to account for, with Red Bull singing a familiar tune, albeit more veiled than its concentrated verbal assault on the French manufacturer in 2015, though the buck ultimately lies with the team.
The marginal progress witnessed at Spain, more evident during qualifying than on Sunday, when Daniel Ricciardo claimed a distant third only following attrition at the front of the field, says that victory contention isn’t on the radar anytime soon, but they cannot allow this to deter them.
When Red Bull possesses inertia, they’re unstoppable, as demonstrated by its peerless, and in many respects, ruthless efficiency at the start of the decade, yet appear rudderless when they lose a pillar, coupled with its keen reluctance to optimise the considerable resources which remain at their disposal.
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