Newey urging Red Bull to 'keep pushing', not fall asleep

©RedBull

Red Bull chief technology officer Adrian Newey is urging the Milton Keynes outfit to remain on its toes and "keep pushing" despite its unshakable supremacy.

Red Bull has one every race so far this season, with Max Verstappen enjoying his seventh consecutive triumph last weekend in Hungary, a feat that allowed his team to beat the eleven-race winning streak established by McLaren's Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna all the way back in 1988.

The bulls now hold a massive 229-point lead in F1's Constructors' championship while Verstappen sits 110 points ahead of teammate Sergio Perez in the Drivers' standings.

"It has been an amazing run, we could never have dreamt of this," said Newey, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

"To beat that McLaren run of 1988 is something I never thought we would do, so it is a tribute to the whole team, the hard work of all the guys, the reliability we have enjoyed this season.

"It is a fantastic tribute."

Read also: Red Bull record streak in F1 'something very special' – Horner

But Newey, a 37-year veteran in F1 and widely acclaimed as the greatest designer and aerodynamicist in the history of the sport, knows just how fast things can change in the ultra-dynamic world of Grand Prix racing.

The British engineer harked back to 1999 when, as McLaren's technical director, he remembered how the Woking-based outfit conceded the Constructors' trophy to Ferrari in the final rounds of its campaign.

©RedBull

Twenty-four years on, that defeat still haunts Newey.

"When you are in a season, you are not really thinking about where you have got to, you are thinking about the next one," he explained. "We have still got a long way to go.

"I remember very clearly in 1999 after Mika [Hakkinen] was leading going into Silverstone, Michael [Schumacher] broke his leg and as a team, to be perfectly honest, we fell asleep for the rest of the year and it ended up going down to the wire and we lost the Constructors'.

"It is a lesson that no matter how good things look, you have to keep pushing and keep on your toes."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.