Adrian Newey is a man who instantly attracts respect and admiration whenever his name is mentioned among those who know even a little bit about the world of Formula One. A man who still prefers to design cars with his pencil and pad of paper rather than the latest computer software, the Red Bull team engineer’s opinions are always worth paying close attention to, especially if you’re following the F1 odds.
It therefore seems likely that any rumours of Red Bull being keen to break up the partnership of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in order to form a “dream team” partnership of Vettel and poster-boy for Formula One, Lewis Hamilton, can be dismissed, at least for now.
With Webber on a rolling contract that is assessed at the end of each season, stability is hardly a word that you would associate with him straightaway. However, the 35-year-old has a genuine fan in Newey, who believes that Webber will continue next season for Red Bull and still has a part to play in the team’s season, despite the current dominance of Vettel.
According to Newey, Webber is able to point things out about the car that Vettel doesn’t notice, and vice versa, so his importance to the team is certainly significant. With Newey also revealing in a recent interview that he will never be tempted away from Red Bull by Ferrari, even though they tend not to make a secret of their admiration for the engineer, Webber would surely wish to stay at a team that has one of the best drivers in the world and arguably one of the greatest technical brains the sport has ever seen.