Newey: “Regulations too restrictive also when it comes to chassis”

Although Renault has made clear changes to its power unit ahead of the 2015 season, it won't be enough to beat Mercedes. Adrian Newey is sure of this who, after leaving the role of Technical Director of Red Bull, confided how necessary it is be realistic. “Mercedes has a power unit with an estimated 60 horsepower advantage over us and Renault is working hard to eliminate this gap, but it takes time. It's a tough challenge, but I'm confident".

With such restrictive rules it is not even easy to recover in a short time: “Last year Renault informed us that the deficit from Mercedes was 10% – continued the Briton during a meeting with the press – The current regulation And extremely restrictive also regarding the frames. We understand well that, for those who find themselves in the role of building the chassis, it becomes complicated to overcome the difficulties encountered from the engine point of view. Be careful, I'm not saying that there isn't a difference between the frames, but it's increasingly difficult to do so bridge the gap with our adversaries when we are dealing with such restrictive rules."

According to Newey, who has scaled back his role in Formula 1 to focus on other projects, including the America's Cup and possibly a Red Bull road car, he confirmed that Mercedes always starts as a favourite: “It's obvious that they are the favourites. They already had a good engine and over the winter they were able to focus on research into making the chassis reliable. From this point of view, Red Bull also showed themselves at their level but unfortunately we were stopped by a battery problem".

Eleonora Ottonello