Ex-F1 champ lauds Adrian Newey's brilliance as the force driving Max Verstappen

Two-time former Formula 1 champion Mika Hakkinen rates Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey as the most successful designer in F1 history, having also won titles previously with Williams and McLaren.

This past Sunday at Suzuka, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen wrapped up a dominant 2022 campaign by claiming his second F1 world championship with four races of the season remaining. But while all the news has been about the Dutchman's driving skills, Hakkinen believes none of it would have happened without the technical brilliance of Newey.

Hakkinen is no stranger to working with the British engineer, having picked up his 1998 and 1999 world titles behind the wheel of Newey's cars.

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Still winning

In his Unibet column, Hakkinen said Newey was a big factor behind winning his two world titles. "I am very happy for Red Bull's technical boss Adrian Newey.

"It was thanks to his work at McLaren that I had great cars with which to win both my World Championship titles, and he is still winning at Red Bull all these years later.

"He really is the most successful designer in F1 history, and although I know he has a great team of design engineers working with him, his technical leadership is just brilliant.

"Even during Mercedes' dominant years, Red Bull remained competitive, and it's amazing to see Adrian's team take advantage of this year's new regulations to win another title. Congratulations to him."

A fantastic performance

Hakkinen commented on Verstappen's stunning 2022 form and said: "This was a fantastic performance by Max, the kind of race you dream about when going for the World Championship title.

"He said before the weekend that