Adrian Newey insists Lewis Hamilton’s 2021 Abu Dhabi GP loss severely impacted Mercedes’ ‘psyche’
Newey on “intense” 2021 title battle between Hamilton and Verstappen
Adrian Newey is leaving Red Bull Racing to join Aston Martin. He discussed his time at Red Bull on the High Performance podcast.
Newey shared his thoughts on the intense competition between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 F1 season, which was one of the most exciting title battles in the sport’s history.
In 2021, there was a lot of tension between Red Bull Racing and Mercedes as Verstappen and Hamilton competed for the drivers’ championship.
They had multiple crashes throughout the season. Things got really heated at the British Grand Prix when they collided at Silverstone, causing Verstappen to crash into the tyre barriers at a high speed of 52G. Despite this, Hamilton ended up winning the race and was celebrating on the podium, much to the displeasure of Red Bull and Verstappen’s team.
The rivalry continued at the Italian Grand Prix in Monza, where Verstappen and Hamilton crashed again, with Verstappen’s car ending up on top of Hamilton’s as they went into the first-corner chicane side by side.
During the races in Brazil and Saudi Arabia, there were close moments again between the two drivers, but both just managed to stay in the race despite near misses. The final chapter in the 2021 drivers’ title fight book came in the final race in Abu Dhabi. That was when Verstappen won the world championship on the last lap, after the controversial decision of the then race director Michael Masi.
Newey looks back at the intense title fight between Verstappen and Hamilton.
In the podcast – in which Newey looks back after being confirmed at Aston Martin as the new designer – the Brit looks back on this during his time at Red Bull. “I don’t think Max [Verstappen] is crackable,” Newey reveals. “Just a little bit in the 2021 title fight.
The intensity, particularly after Silverstone, on track between Lewis [Hamilton] and Max became so intense. After that incident, Max had very strong feelings after that Silverstone accident,” Newey added.
