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Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B
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Analysis

Why Red Bull's Mexico victory underlined a time-tested Newey strength

Max Verstappen's dominant run to victory in the Mexican Grand Prix owed much to a brilliant first corner move - which as well as sublime skill, required him to have total trust in his machinery. The efficiency of Red Bull's aerodynamic package was a key differentiator between it and Mercedes on race day, and points to the continued impact of an F1 heavy-hitter

Within the 30 years since an Adrian Newey-designed Formula 1 car first won a race, the championship's landscape has changed significantly.

In 1991, when Newey’s FW14 first won at the Mexican Grand Prix thanks to the endeavours of Riccardo Patrese, F1 was embarking on the road to becoming a more professional, technologically advanced battleground. In the following years, the deadwood teams had been slashed and burned. Their demise and the boom in budgets paved the way for the mid-2000s manufacturer expansion, which imploded only a few seasons later ahead of F1’s cultural shift to a more accessible, fan-friendly and franchised championship.

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