Asked about the issues Red Bull have encountered with the RB20 since Newey moved off the front line, and whether he was surprised to see the 65-year-old sign for Aston Martin, Verstappen replied: “I’m not surprised, because I knew it was coming.
“From my side it’s very difficult to know how the team is operating and stuff… I’m happy for Adrian, I quickly spoke to him, but it’s just different challenges, right? When you’ve been with the team for a long time, I can also see that maybe for him, [it’s] a new challenge.
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“For sure, I know that Lawrence [Stroll, Aston Martin owner] is pushing flat out to make it a success and of course I hope for them that it can be a success.
“From our side, we’ve had some issues with the car and now we’re just trying to fix that. It’s not like from one to the other weekend it suddenly is all done. Especially with the budget cap as well, it’s not that easy to turn the car around. We have to be a bit patient.”
