Max Verstappen will collect most of the accolades from Red Bull’s 2022 season dominance. However, credit where credit is due, without the RB18, such a feat is not possible. Ask Lewis Hamilton who went from competing for a title in 2021 to dealing with back pain in 2022.

Diving a little deeper into it, porpoising became such an issue that the FIA introduced a reform mid-season, especially after the race in Baku, which caused Hamilton, among other drivers, significant discomfort. So is it the new 2022 regulations introduced by the governing body that are to be blamed for the excessive bouncing?

Red Bull’s chief designer Adrian Newey thinks otherwise. “I had a basic understanding of the ground effect principle and also of the phenomenon that we called porpoising forty years ago,” Newey revealed. [Translated using Google]

He foresaw the issue thanks to his experience and in-depth knowledge of aerodynamics.

Moreover, the British engineer was surprised and believes everyone should have predicted porpoising. “At most I was surprised by the extent. Actually, everyone should have known. It’s a phenomenon that’s in the genes of these cars,” he claimed critically.

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Red Bull was truly one of the few teams on the grid which did not suffer from the issue from the start. How? Because the team found ‘the best balance between ride height, downforce, and bounce’, something they did in Bahrain testing and something Mercedes failed to do until almost the midway point in the season.

This work behind the scenes is exactly why Hamilton praised the British engineer.

Lewis Hamilton praises Adrian Newey for Red Bull’s success

Max Verstappen has truly dominated the 2022 season as the season progressed with his 14 wins (a record) as proof. However, when asked about Verstappen’s performance mid-season, Hamilton credited the excellent machinery as well.

“It’s more that I’m impressed with Adrian Newey and his team. I think it is a great team; they’ve generally had really great cars for some time. They’ve done a fantastic job,” he said.

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With his statements, Hamilton arguably brought attention to the man responsible behind the scene for the dominance instead of the man showcasing it.