'Newey is fundamental factor in winning or losing' - Jean Alesi

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Former Ferrari driver Jean Alesi believes that this year's world championship will come down to key people behind the scenes, rather than the superstar drivers like Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton.

2021 saw the championship come down to a thrilling on-track battle between Red Bull and Mercedes that wasn't decided until the last corner of the final race of the season.

Last year, early reliability troubles for Red Bull enabled Ferrari to win two of the first three races of the season, with Leclerc establishing a big points lead over Verstappen.

Read also: Newey still 'living in the matrix' at Red Bull, says Horner

But Red Bull's season soon got back on track, and Verstappen went on to win a record 15 races during the season, easily clinching a second championship.

This year, Alesi thinks the key battle will primarily be between Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey and his counterparts at Mercedes and Ferrari over who can get the early upper hand - and moreover, sustain it over the season.

"Red Bull is currently the absolute leader in Formula 1 and is incredibly strong in every field,' Alesi told Italian publication Autosprint this week.

"If we really look at how things stand, the real factor to consider is Adrian Newey. Ever since F1 announced that there were new rules and engineers were given freedom, Newey has been making a difference.

©RedBull

"Newey has become the decisive factor, because he's able like no other to keep improving the car during the season - even if it's only small changes."

But Alesi also felt that Mercedes would also bounce back this year after their misfire in 2022, in which excessive 'porpoising' proved seriously detrimental to the performance of the W13.

"Mercedes are getting stronger, especially after [George] Russell's victory in Brazil," Alesi suggested. "I don't think they will make a mistake twice in designing a car."

That would mean Ferrari face twin threats this season as Frédéric Vasseur takes over the reins as team principal at Maranello following the departure of Mattia Binotto in December.

Last year saw some major changes to F1's technical rules and regulations. This year sees less change, mainly relating to the underfloor, meaning there would be reduced scope for teams to make development improvements.

"In the end they're small gains. That's why I don't think it will be a battle between Verstappen and Leclerc, but fundamentally between Newey and Ferrari.

"If he again comes up with a masterpiece, everything will be very difficult [for Ferrari and the other teams] again this year.

"On the other hand, if this year's Red Bull car has something fallible and fragile, things could change.

"In any case, let us not forget that whether things go well or badly, Newey is a fundamental factor in winning or losing."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.