Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey remains wary of competition from rival teams despite a dominant start to the year for the defending champions; watch the Saudi Arabian GP live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend, starting with Practice One at 1pm on Friday
Thursday 16 March 2023 11:06, UK
Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has downplayed the team's ominous supremacy in the opening race of the new Formula 1 season and says they are braced for stiff competition over the coming months.
Reigning world champion Max Verstappen stormed to victory ahead of team-mate Sergio Perez in Bahrain earlier this month, with their nearest challenger Fernando Alonso around 39 seconds back in third for Aston Martin.
Red Bull's commanding start to the campaign has led to doubt over whether anybody in the field can come close to challenging the reigning constructors' champions.
Mercedes are evidently short of where they would like to be having sought to overcome the issues that hindered them last season, while Ferrari have already encountered issues with Charles Leclerc receiving a 10-place grid penalty following his retirement in Bahrain.
"I'm sure we won't be as strong as that week in, week out," Newey told Sky Sports News. "In Bahrain it was one of those sort of typical ducks feet paddling under the water, it wasn't quite as smooth as inside as it might have looked.
"We go back 12 months ago and it's the other way around, Ferrari finish one-two, we failed, we weren't quite as quick as them, so these things can swing round very quickly. We've just got to keep pushing and we'll see where we get to.
"If we had more wind tunnel time we'd use it, so other teams having more than us must help them.
"As I say, it's going to be a long year, 23 races, we've only got one down so everybody will be pushing."
Verstappen was victorious when Saudi Arabia welcomed F1 back for its second race in Jeddah last year, seeing off competition from the Ferraris of Leclerc and Sainz.
Such is the high-speed track awaiting this Sunday that there are hopes of a more competitive battle at the front of the grid, particularly after data pointed towards Ferrari holding a superior top speed than Red Bull in Bahrain.
Nonetheless, all arrows currently point towards Red Bull as runaway tone-setters.
Sky Sports F1's Karun Chandhok...
"We saw utter domination from Red Bull, there's no other word for it for Bahrain.
"But it was a circuit and ticked every box for the strengths of that car, certainly Ferrari seemed to be making lots of noises that they didn't get the set up right.
"The next four tracks, if Ferrari don't come back in the fight then ask me after Miami and I'll have no answer for you.
"The next four tracks will determine whether Ferrari are in this fight."
Thursday
2:30pm: Drivers' Press Conference
Friday
10.50pm: F2 Practice
1pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice One (session starts 1.30pm)
2:55pm: F2 Qualifying
4:45pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Two (session starts 5pm)
6:15pm: The F1 Show: Saudi Arabia
Saturday
1.15pm: Saudi Arabian GP Practice Three (session starts 1:30pm)
3:05pm: F2 Sprint Race
4pm: Saudi Arabian GP Qualifying build-up
5pm: SAUDI ARABIAN GP QUALIFYING
Sunday
1:35pm: F2 Feature Race
3.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday Saudi Arabian GP build-up
5pm: THE SAUDI ARABIAN GRAND PRIX
7pm: Chequered flag: Saudi Arabian GP Reaction
Watch the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix live on Sky Sports F1 this weekend with Sunday's race live at 5pm. Get Sky Sports
