Perez: Red Bull ‘in a great place’ despite Newey departure
Sergio Perez believes Red Bull Racing will be in a great place despite the departure of chief technology officer Adrian Newey, thanks to the strength of its core technical group.
Newey's exit from Red Bull, scheduled in early 2025, was confirmed by the team on Wednesday.
It has been agreed that the team's current chief technology officer will attend selected races between now and the end of the F1 season, while his main focus at Milton Keynes will be on Red Bull’s RB17 Hypercar project that will see the light of day next year.
Speculation has ramped up in the last 24 hours over where Formula 1’s most successful designer in its history will end up next, with Ferrari cited as Newey’s most likely destination.
But wherever the Briton lands, Perez believes he’ll quickly find his footing and will immediately contribute to his new team’s fortunes.
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"Adrian, with the experience he has, he has contributed a lot to the Red Bull philosophy so I assume he will cause an immediate impact wherever he goes or whatever he does," the Mexican told the media in Miami ahead of this weekend’s round of racing in Florida.
"He is a very clever guy and a very hard worker. Working with Adrian, he is much more than a designer, he can influence even strategies, set-up, he could have that influence on a race weekend.
"To have him around on race weekends was great. He is a very strong individual and wherever he goes he will cause an immediate impact. But it is a whole group of people that he will require to have around him as well."
Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache with Sergio Perez in Bahrain earlier this year.
Many believe that Newey’s departure from Red Bull is a seismic event that does not bode well for the championship winning team.
But Perez disagrees and points to those talented leading engineers in Red Bull’s technical departments who will pick up any slack resulting from Newey’s absence and uphold the team’s momentum.
"It is obviously not ideal, someone like Adrian [leaving], he has been tremendous to our team, to our organisation, and he is also a very good friend of mine from all the time we've spent together," Perez explained.
"But, at the end of the day, there are times in life when you spend 20 years at Red Bull I think he probably wants to do something else and that is fair.
"I think Red Bull is in a great place and it has a very strong organisation with Pierre [Wache – technical director], Enrico [Balbo – head of aerodynamics] and Ben [Waterhouse – head of performance engineering]. I think the whole aero group is very strong and I think we are looking forward to the future.
"You've seen in the past at these big teams, big names when they leave they will always exist, it isn't down to one single individual. It is a whole organisation and I think Christian [Horner] has done a great job in preparing for the next generation of what is going to happen at Red Bull."
Perez is also convinced that Newey’s exit will not result, as many fear, in an exodus of engineering expertise from Red Bull, or the flight of other senior members of the team.
"I don't think so," said the six-time Grand Prix winner Perez.
"I think everyone is fully committed to the team and we are having a tremendous season once again and the future looks bright at the team.
"I think it is normal that you have this sort of movement, losing some people, but I think the organisation remains really strong and I don't see any more changes ahead in that regard."
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