Newey not worried: 'If we are really smart it doesn't make much difference'

"Statistically, the RB18 has been our best car. A car that we can be very proud of," Newey said in a Red Bull Racing interview. Especially given the fierce battle that continued until the end of the 2021 F1 season, as it meant the team had to keep developing the car until the last race.

Moreover, the budget ceiling made it more challenging to work on the car for 2022 in the meantime. "When you have limited resources, if you're putting research and development into that car then that's research and development you're not putting into the brand new car for the new regulations. We focused on trying to get the fundamentals right," Red Bull Racing's chief technical officer continued.

Red Bull came back from difficult start

That way, Red Bull hoped to have a package that could be further developed during the season, even if it was not the fastest car. That turned out to be a huge windfall in hindsight, although the RB18 struggled with some problems at the start of the season. "The car definitely had some weaknesses through the first half of the season, but we reduced those weaknesses and certainly by the second half we had a fully competitive package," Newey explained.

The top designer also broaches the subject of limited wind tunnel time. This allows Red Bull to evaluate fewer different parts and fewer different ideas, but according to Newey, it need not be an overly painful measure for the team. "If we are really smart and always put on the right things then it doesn't make much difference," he said.

Newey takes Ferrari and Mercedes into account

At the same time, Red Bull is also looking backwards. "Ferrari won't be resting either. They will be sorting out their weak areas," said Newey. "They had a couple of reliability problems, made a couple of pit wall mistakes so they'll be right back."

Mercedes is also being considered. Despite being far off the pace for a long time, the team developed the problematic W13 to such an extent that a win was still in the cards. Newey assumes that the German racing stable will also simply be competitive again in 2023. "It's going to be a tough year for sure," Newey concluded.