Adrian Newey has revealed that Red Bull failed to address key issues with its 2024 car in a timely manner, despite early warning signs.
The legendary engineer, who left Red Bull last year amid the team's internal struggles, says he noticed fundamental handling problems that made the car increasingly difficult to drive.
"Obviously part of it was McLaren in particular and Ferrari as well developing their cars and doing a very good job of it," Newey told Auto Motor und Sport.
"But from what I could see at Red Bull, the 2024 car – and also in the latter stages of 2023 – was starting to become more difficult to drive."
Despite these concerns, Red Bull still secured its fourth consecutive drivers' title with Max Verstappen. However, Sergio Perez struggled significantly, ultimately leading to his exit from the team for 2025.
"Max could still drive it," Newey explained. "It didn't suit him, but he could drive it. Checo? No.
We'd already started to see bigger differences in performance between Max and Checo in 2023, which continued into the first part of 2024. But the car was still quick enough to be able to deal with it."
Newey admitted that he was concerned about the direction of development early on, but felt that others within the team didn't share his level of concern.
"It was something I was starting to worry about," he said.
"And not many other people in the organisation seemed to be too worried about it," Newey added.
After Newey stepped back from Red Bull's car development, the team's performance saw a notable decline before stabilizing towards the end of the season.
Heading into 2025, the competition looks fiercer than ever, with McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull, and Mercedes all in the fight for the championship.
"From what I could see from the outside, and this is not a criticism," Newey clarified, "but the Red Bull guys I think just – maybe because of a lack of experience – kept going in the same direction.
"And the problem became more and more acute to the point that even Max was finding it difficult to drive."
Newey emphasized that the issue wasn't just about setup adjustments but a deeper, more fundamental flaw in the car's development.
"I'm not talking about the setup," he said. "I'm talking about the fact that the setup can mask problems to a certain extent. But the problem is still there."
