Verstappen swept to his second world title in dominant style this 12 months, scoring a document 15 wins by means of the season behind the wheel of the Crimson Bull RB18 automobile, whereas Crimson Bull additionally clinched its first constructors’ title since 2013.
The dominance of the RB18 got here regardless of an prolonged improvement cycle for the RB16B in 2021, when Verstappen was engaged in an in depth struggle for the championship with Mercedes rival Lewis Hamilton.
Many groups opted to finish their improvement early in 2021 to give attention to the overhauled laws for 2022, however Crimson Bull opted to maintain bringing updates to efficiently assist Verstappen’s title bid.
Crimson Bull was recognised for its success in Sunday’s Autosport Awards because the RB18 received Worldwide Racing Automotive of the 12 months, the gong being collected by Newey and the Crimson Bull technical workforce.
Newey mentioned the success of the RB18 automobile had been “very particular”, significantly given the late change to specializing in 2022 that he thinks may maybe have come sooner.
“We had fairly a brief improvement interval, significantly as a result of we stored growing final 12 months’s automobile within the battle for the championship, arguably longer than we should always have finished,” Newey informed Autosport after amassing the award.
“That gave us rather a lot to do over the winter. What we tried to give attention to was getting the basics of the automobile proper as this 12 months’s automobile, after which hoping that will give us the event potential to sort of refine it.
“That’s thankfully the way it panned out.”
Adrian Newey OBE being interviewed on the purple carpet
Photograph by: Nils Jorgensen / Motorsport Pictures
Crimson Bull fought neck-and-neck with Ferrari by means of the early a part of the season, just for its in-season improvement to tug it comfortably clear because the quickest workforce after the summer time break.
The workforce received 10 of the ultimate 11 races, permitting each titles to be wrapped up early because it set a brand new document for level scored by a workforce in a single season.
Newey mentioned on stage at Grosvenor Home that he thought Ferrari was forward by means of pre-season testing, however Crimson Bull’s focus was on making a automobile that will work effectively on all tracks.
“In actuality, Ferrari, in pre-season, had been most likely faster,” mentioned Newey.
“We had an excellent, efficient first race improve. That made it very shut, after which it was actually a decent battle early on. Ferrari had been faster in some races, we had been faster in others.
“We realized from that and tried to make a well-rounded automobile for the second half of the season, to ensure that it labored on all circuits. I believe all of us collectively did an honest job there.”