Will the Newey curse chase Max Verstappen this year?

Red Bull and Max Verstappen will have a tough 2025 season as their rivals McLaren, Ferrari, and Mercedes have grown stronger than them. They will also be racing without their long-time friend and F1’s greatest designer, Adrian Newey. The British designer will work for the Aston Martin F1 team from the 2025 season. But, he has a unique record that no other car designer on the grid has. Adrian Newey does an unintended curse that affects the drivers after his exit from a team. 

No F1 Title without Newey

The British race designer has been in championship-winning teams like Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. F1 drivers like Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacquez Villenueve, Mika Hakkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen are the drivers who have won world titles with Newey-designed cars. But after their separation from Adrian Newey, their title records are o. 

Nigel Mansell won the 1992 world championship with the Williams FW14B car designed by Newey. After that, he couldn't achieve the same success when he moved to McLaren. Alain Prost won the title with the Newey-designed Williams FW15C car, and after that, he retired from Formula 1 and never returned. 

Damon Hill won the 1996 world title with a Williams FW18 car. He couldn’t win any other championship with the Arrows team. Jacques Villenueve won the 1997 world championship with a Williams FW19 car designed by Adrian Newey. He never won another title with any other team. 

Mika Hakkinen won the title for McLaren in 1998 and 1999, designed by Newey. The Flying Finn never won any other title. Sebastian Vettel Won four consecutive F1 titles from 2010 to 2013 and then moved to Ferrari. But he couldn’t win any titles without Newey and retired as a time world champion. 

Max Vertsappen is now in the firing line as Adrian Newey exited the Red Bull team last year. This will be a testament for Max as he faces tougher rivals, and without Newey, he somehow needs to win the championship to break the curse. Let us hope the best for Verstappen to win the 2025 F1 title.

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