Kvyat puts Newey's departure into perspective: 'Success does not come from one person'
Exclusive
- Ludo van Denderen
To say that things have been unsettled at Red Bull Racing all year is an understatement. The fact is that Adrian Newey - partly because of the hassle surrounding team principal Christian Horner - has announced his departure from the Austrian team. For Daniil Kvyat, who worked with the British designer at Red Bull, Newey's departure came as a surprise, but the Russian does not expect Max Verstappen's F1 team to collapse now.
"First, I thought, wow, it's a big change, but maybe we don't know how Red Bull was preparing for it," Kvyat said during an exclusive interview with GPblog. "There are a lot of talented engineers there. So, for sure, Red Bull will have the right people. Then, restructure. Of course, it's not a topic, and hopefully, it's organised quickly. Him [Adrian Newey] alone is also very talented, of course."
Who will take on Newey's role?
Red Bull seemed to downplay Newey's departure in recent weeks. For his part, Kvyat expects the racing stable to be able to cope with the Briton's departure. "If they prepared well with their structure, with engineering structure [there isn't a problem], there are a lot of people who do a lot of different parts. Also, Adrian had his job. Then, there were other aero guys, hydraulic guys. Then, everyone had their say in the project, so it will be interesting to see."
In any case, the driver - now racing in the WEC on behalf of Lamborghini - is not assuming a total collapse. "I don't know if collapse is a bit of a strong word, I don't know. There is a change, for sure, positive or negative, I don't know. I think people have a bit of a cliché thinking when it comes to that. For sure, it's a huge name, but a team, a successful team, is not made of one man."
Kvyat sees the outside world thinking in clichés
Yet there are those who believe that Red Bull cannot do without Newey's ingenuity, just as Max Verstappen would be irreplaceable. "But that's, again, that's a cliché thinking. It's not that," says Kvyat. "It's not true, I think. I think there are a lot of people, other people, who do a lot of important work. So, there are projects, of course, that are orchestrated by the person. If it's been orchestrated by one person, and he leaves, then it is a different structure."