Newey: The last couple of races have been very painful for us

After 11 races, the sport has seen Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen go wheel-to-wheel on numerous occasions, while the battle between the two rivals in the drivers' championship and Red Bull and Mercedes in the constructors' championship remains too close to call.

While Mercedes have held the edge since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014, Newey and co have finally built a car capable of knocking the Brackley team of their thrown, and in Verstappen they have a driver capable of delivering.

The early races were tightly contested, before Red Bull looked to be taking control with a run a five straight wins.

However, the battle turned on its head at Silverstone when Hamilton and Verstappen clashed on the opening lap, sending the Dutchman out.

The seven-time champion went on to win, before gaining more points in Hungary after Verstappen sustained damage thanks to a Turn 1 mistake by Valtteri Bottas, and could only recover to ninth.

Hamilton now has the lead over Verstappen, while Mercedes hold the edge on Red Bull, and Newey said the last few weeks show just how fast things can change.

"We have to be performing at the highest level in all areas of the business to try and overturn a seven-time World Championship winning team, which I believe we have been doing," he told the Talking Bull podcast. "The last couple of races have been very painful for us after hitting a sweet spot over the France-Styria-Austria triple-header.

"It really does highlight how quickly things can change. Things were looking very good, particularly after the Austrian Grand Prix, and we had a decent points lead in the two Championships: two races later we’re slightly behind in both which is more painful when it is through no fault of our own. That’s the nature – and the competitiveness – of the sport we’re in. We just have to keep our heads down and keep pushing."

The heat is certainly rising in the championship fight, but Newey is confident in the team's ability to keep fighting through adversity.

"One of the great things about Red Bull Racing is that we’ve always had a good atmosphere in the team and that’s meant we’ve also had very good stability in the workforce, going back to a time even before we were first able to mount a title challenge," he added.

"We lost-out in 2009 but that, and I think the experiences of winning two very tight battles in 2010 and 2012 have moulded us, and given us a level of resilience that comes in very useful now. We know how to be the hunter and the hunted which is a definite strength."