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Newey: F1’s grid to close up even more before being ‘blown apart’ in 2026

Red Bull’s Adrian Newey predicts the fight at the front of Formula 1 is going to get even tighter, before the 2026 rules reset blows things apart once again.

While Red Bull remains the team to beat in F1 right now, Newey has no doubt that the opposition is closing in, as the world champion squad finds it harder and harder to make gains with its car.

He sees no reason why one of his outfit’s competitors cannot even leap ahead under the current rules set before things are thrown up in the air by the new car and engines that are coming from 2026.

Newey says what is happening right now is no different to previous rules cycles, where one team starts with an advantage that is steadily wiped away as everyone gets a better understanding of things.

Speaking to Autosport about how he saw things playing out into 2026, he says that history suggests the battles will get tighter before the new cars probably leave one team clear out in front again.

“People do lament that the results have been dominated, fortunately in our case by us, but by one team during these rules to date,” he said.

“But that can obviously change. It's definitely closing up. And who knows what will happen next year? One of our rivals could easily overtake us.

“If you look at history, then whenever there's a regulation change, more often than not one team reads it better than another. And there's a period of domination.

Source: Autosport

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