"It is not as dramatic as it seems," says Max Verstappen of Adrian Newey's decision to leave Red Bull.

Of course, once Drive to Survive gets hold of it, what with purposeful editing, carefully selected background music, pregnant pauses and faces filled with consternation, it will be even more dramatic, but we'll let that go for now.

In the meantime, just 24 hours after Adrian Newey confirmed that he is to leave the team for which he has created all its championship winning cars - including those three, going on four, of Max Verstappen's - the Dutchman insists that life will go on.

"Not at the moment," he replied, when asked if the design guru's departure will affect his own future at Red Bull, "people are making up a lot of stuff because they don't understand how the roles are in the team, but of course I cannot deny I would have preferred him to stay. Just for how he is as a person, his knowledge and what he will bring potentially to another team... besides that, I trust the people we have are incredibly good.

"If someone really wants to leave they should leave," he added, "that's what I wrote to him, if you think that is the right decision for yourself and your family, you have to do it.

"At the end of the day, F1 is a shark tank, everyone thinks about themselves at the end of the day. I know that. I'm not stupid. So that's fine.

"Of course from when he started at Red Bull, he was incredibly important for the success they had," the three-time world champion continued. "Over time, his role has changed a bit and a lot of people don't understand what he was actually doing.

"I don't say he wasn't doing anything but his role has evolved. A lot of good people came into the team that have strengthened that whole department. Of course I would have preferred him to stay, for sure, because you can always rely on his experience and just as a person he is a great guy to chat to and relate to.

"He is very bright and smart but he would also talk to the driver and interpret that into the car, in terms he would try to imagine himself driving but I also really trust that the technical team we have outside of Adrian is really strong. They have shown that for the last few years how competitive the car is.

"From the outside, it looks very dramatic but if you know what is happening inside the team it is not as dramatic as it seems."

Linked with both Ferrari and Aston Martin, Newey has previously admitted regret over not having worked with either of the world champions, while also expressing disappointment at never having worked with the Maranello outfit.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Chester, 03/05/2024 23:05

"Max does tend to straight shoot. But I still remember the underside of Perez's car hanging on the crane after he crashed it in Monaco. It was elaborate and many commented how crude their car's underside was.

To say that underside wasn't Newey's doing is a bit of a whopper. "

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2. Posted by Spindoctor, 03/05/2024 13:01

"VMax should get 2024 & 2026 titles with ease. Let's see how "dramatic" it is after we get the 2026 cars which FIA seems keen to make very different to the current ones."

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3. Posted by kenji, 03/05/2024 10:29

"'It's not as dramatic as it seems'. Plain simple statement of facts as seen by a straight shooter. Different yes but not as cataclysmic as the media would desperately try to have you believe. Let's go racing with the best of the best....."

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Verstappen plays down Newey's departure

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