Adrian Newey, Red Bull’s design chief, thinks having an experienced driver like Sergio Perez back in the team provides them a fresh perspective.
Formula 1’s junior program was established by the Austrian team, which has developed world champions Sebastian Vettel, Daniel Ricciardo, and Max Verstappen among others.
Perez was brought in to partner Verstappen in 2021, marking the first time since 2013 that Red Bull had a driver who had not come through through the junior team’s ranks.
As a result, Perez brings a distinct perspective to the team, sharing his Formula 1 knowledge.
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“I think that one of the fascinating bits of the sport is trying to factor in the human input into what is otherwise a data driver exercise,” said Newey on the Talking Bull podcast.
“So yes, their comments are very important and having Sergio join us this year with his experience from other teams is also very useful.
“It is not since we had Mark and DC that we have had drivers that have not come through the Red Bull driver programme, so having experience from other teams just gives a different perspective and input to what we had from the other guys.”
A series where some drivers feel success has become too car-dependent, the new rules for 2022 will seek to solve this issue in order to make Formula 1 more technologically advanced.
In fact, a great deal of this technology is now critical to keeping a Formula 1 car in good health, with a multitude of sensors feeding data back to the teams.
When it comes to feedback, though, Newey was clear that the driver is still more crucial than any other sensor.
“The fact is that from the data we measure on the car, from the hundreds of sensors we have on aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics etcetera, they kind of tell you what the car is doing but it is the driver who is much better at telling you why it is doing it,” he stated.
“It is then a matter of trying to marry the driver’s comments to the sensors.”
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