Martin Brundle makes Red Bull claim Horner ‘will hate him for’ at Spanish GP

Red Bull designer Newey admits 2023 looks 'tough' amid testing restrictions

F1 pundit Martin Brundle has risked the wrath of Red Bull boss Christian Horner by claiming that the team’s design guru, Adrian Newey, is worth even more than the highest-paid driver on the grid. Newey has previously been the subject of links to Ferrari, but he recently signed a long-term extension to stay at Red Bull.

Midway through the Spanish Grand Prix on Sunday, Ferrari star Carlos Sainz instructed his team to ‘find the best way to beat Checo [Perez]’. Brundle then sparked a frenzy on social media by joking that his best chance of holding off the Mexican is for the Prancing Horse to ‘hire Adrian Newey’.

The 64-year-old – hailed as one of the legendary design gurus in F1 – is currently chief technical officer at Red Bull Racing, with Ferrari trying and failing to lure him to Maranello in years gone by.

Elaborating on his point while on co-commentary duties for Sky Sports, Brundle added: “Christian [Horner] is going to hate me for saying this, but whatever the best-paid driver is worth, Adrian Newey is worth even more.”

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Thankfully for Horner and Red Bull, Brundle’s eye-opening statement about Newey will not drive up his demands in contract negotiations as he has already put pen to paper on a new agreement.

“Adrian and I work together, we’ve been sitting next to each other for 18 years now,” Horner told Sky Sports this week. “It was inevitable that we were going to extend that.

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“He’s a great part of the team, it’s great to have him with us and as the team continues to evolve we’ve got strength and depth, but to have Adrian for the longer term with us is fantastic for everyone in the team.”

Newey’s genius and Horner’s leadership once again came to the fore on Sunday as Red Bull’s star driver, Max Verstappen, cruised to his third consecutive Grand Prix victory. There was simply no touching the Dutchman at Circuit de Catalunya as he beat Lewis Hamilton by more than 24 seconds.

The result opens up a 53-point lead for Verstappen as he chases down a third Drivers’ Championship in a row. Sergio Perez fought back to take P4 in Spain after starting 11th on the grid due to a frustrating qualifying session.

Red Bull have now won every single one of the seven races on offer so far this season, with Verstappen taking five victories to Perez’s two. Mercedes’ productive weekend in Spain moves them up to second in the Constructors’ Championship, although they are a long way behind Newey and co.

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