Mercedes can blame David Coulthard for the re-emergence of Red Bull as the dominant team in Formula One. Red Bull have finally wrestled the initiative from Mercedes, as Max Verstappen cruised to his second world title victory and the Silver Arrows faltered in 2022.
But the foundations of the irrepressible Verstappen’s success were laid down long before the Dutchman had taken his first seat in F1. Former Red Bull driver Coulthard had an instrumental role in the hire of design genius Adrian Newey in the team’s fledgling years in 2006.
Newey is one of the most esteemed designers in F1 history – with his car designs taking his teams to an incredible 23 Drivers’ and Constructors’ Championship titles. And as one of the most prized names in the sport, Red Bull had a huge job on their hands to convince Newey to join after his title successes at Williams and McLaren.
But Team Principal Christian Horner could lean on Newey’s close relationship with Brit Coulthard, who provided a glowing endorsement and helped persuade him to make the switch.
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“The opportunity with Red Bull was that it was still very much a fledgling team and trying to grow that team, with Christian, with the aspiration to win races,” Newey said. “Winning championships seemed a very distant dream at that point. It was something that really intrigued me.
“David’s a good friend, somebody whose judgment I very much trusted, and David gave it a big thumbs-up. (Red Bull Racing) was always having big discos … was this a team that would be taken seriously? But if you went beneath that veneer, then to me it looked like, yes, it had all had all the building blocks.”
After a settling in period, Newey’s designs ultimately helped lead Horner’s team to four drivers’ titles in a row as Sebastian Vettel dominated the grid between 2010 and 2013. And now the chief technical officer, Newey still has a huge role. The 63-year-old contributed to Verstappen’s record 15 race wins in 2022, as Red Bull also finally managed to regain the constructors’ title.
