‘It’s very rewarding’ – Newey reflects on Red Bull RB18 becoming his most victorious design

While Max Verstappen made the headlines in Japan by securing a second F1 world title, Red Bull technical chief Adrian Newey claimed his own special record – the Red Bull RB18 becoming his most successful car design in terms of race wins.

Verstappen’s 12th victory of the season, added to team mate Sergio Perez’s brace, gave Red Bull 14 victories from the 18 races held so far, with four rounds left to run. That number surpasses the 13 wins the RB9 achieved at the hands of Sebastian Vettel across 19 Grands Prix back in 2013.

As it stands, in addition to the most wins outright, the RB18 holds the highest victory percentage of Newey’s F1 designs at 77.77% (for 14 out of 18 races), with the potential for that to increase to 81.81% if Red Bull can win the remaining rounds in the United States, Mexico, Brazil and Abu Dhabi.

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Should the team falter, that overall percentage record could remain with the Williams FW18 from the 1996 campaign, which won 12 of 16 races (75%), with the aforementioned RB9 close behind on 68.42%.

After being informed of the victory milestone in an interview with Sky Sports F1 in Suzuka, Newey said: “I’m not very good [with] numbers, but that’s very rewarding to know! We’ve obviously had a good run.

“I think Ferrari had a very quick car early on, [and] in many races, to be honest, they were probably a bit quicker. But I think we’ve kind of managed to round out the performance envelope of the car and try to get it working at all circuits.”

Newey went on to hail a “team effort” and offer a “huge well done” to those working flat-out at Red Bull’s factory in Milton Keynes, while also paying tribute to the efforts of newly-crowned double world champion Verstappen.

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“Max has been absolutely superb this year. Obviously in the traffic in Singapore he made a little mistake, but apart from that, he’s made absolutely no mistakes. [He’s been] very mature and always had the speed, so I think he thoroughly deserves all the success he’s having this year,” added Newey.

Following their fifth one-two finish of the season at Suzuka, Red Bull are rapidly closing in on the 2022 title, which would earn Newey an 11th constructors’ crown, alongside 12 drivers’ crowns.