Verstappen says Newey exit won’t impact his future with Red Bull

 AFP | Miami

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Formula One world champion Max Verstappen has insisted that the exit of Red Bull’s chief technical officer Adrian Newey won’t cause him to reconsider his future with the world champions.

But while Dutchman Verstappen said he would have liked to see Newey stay, the threetime world champion cautioned against predictions of an automatic decline in fortunes for the team.

“From the outside it looks very dramatic, but I think if you actually know what is happening inside the team it’s not as dramatic as it seems,” he told reporters on Thursday at the Miami Grand Prix.

“I think over time, his role has changed a bit and I think a lot of people don’t understand what he was actually doing. “I’m not saying that he wasn’t doing anything but his role has evolved.

A lot of good people came into the team that has strengthened that whole department,” Verstappen added. “Of course, I would have preferred him to stay for sure because you can always rely on his experience.

He’s a good person, a great guy to chat to and relate to. He’s very bright, very smart and he would talk to the driver and interpret that into the car, he would try to imagine himself driving,” said Verstappen. “But I also really trust the technical team that we have.

Outside of Adrian, is very, very strong. They have basically shown that over the last few years with how competitive the car is,” he added.

Verstappen brushed off rumors of a big money offer to him to leave for rivals Mercedes next season.

“At the end of the day, even if let’s say that was the case, money is not going to be the differentiator for me to go somewhere,” he said.