Adrian Newey: The man behind Williams, McLaren and Red Bull success – Formula 1
If we look at the history of Formula 1, it is evident that the best cars have won the championships and the drivers sitting in it get the credit for just handling the V12, V10 or V8 machines.
Champions like Ayrton Senna, Mika Hakkinen, Alain Prost and Michael Schumacher waited for a seat in the best cars and then won the championships by putting their experience and skills in the fastest machines on the grid.
After 2000, almost all the world champions had the best car on the grid to march their way towards victory despite the competition getting tough in the latter part of the era. Most commonly, Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Raikkonen’s titles were a close shave,
yet they had the fastest cars to toy around the field and claim the titles.
As far as building the best cars in the world is concerned, Adrian Newey is the name that cannot be left out. The British Aeronautics engineer, Newey, built super fast and reliable cars for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull team, which won constructors’ championships
in recent times.
Apart from Formula 1, Newey had great success in IndyCar racing where he won many titles working as aerodynamicist, designer, technical director and a race engineer.
Newey joined the Williams team to kick off his Formula 1 campaign. His designed FW14 cars were better than the previous versions of Williams’ car and were highly competitive with the likes of McLaren at that time.
In 1992, Newey’s designed car won the title under the driver, Nigel Mansell, and the Brit won his first constructors’ title. In 1993, Alain Prost won the drivers’ title driving Newey’s masterpiece.
However, after the death of Ayrton Senna driving a Williams’ car, the relations between the team and Newey began to falter. Although Williams’ team won the third straight constructors’ title that year, Newey was removed from his place and given a seat where
he was away from the car design.
By the end of 1996, Newey joined the McLaren team as a designer and titles began to flow around him. In 1997, Newey was given a task to improve the design of previously built cars by Neil Oatley. After a four-month gap, the MP4-13 became the fastest car
on the grid.
Victories began to flow as Newey’s designed McLaren car won the constructors’ title in the 1998 season along with a drivers’ title in 1999. With six constructors’ titles and 65 wins, Newey’s career took a downfall soon after 2000.
From 1992 onwards, Newey’s designer market monopoly was challenged by Ferrari’s designer Rory Byrne. Rory’s designed Ferrari cars won five straight titles from 2000 to 2004 with Michael Schumacher while Newey struggled with five drivers to win a championship
title.
His position at McLaren was becoming highly unstable and after the 2005 season, it was thought that Newey will leave the sport completely.
Instead, Red Bull team owner, Dietrich Mateschitz, saw a fatherly figure in Newey for his debut season and signed the Brit for a contract worth $10 million every year. Newey failed to promote the Red Bull car up the grid for three consecutive seasons from
2006 to 2008.
For 2009, Red Bull were a completely different car which showed a good speed and reliability. Sebastian Vettel was able to become the youngest Formula 1 runners up that season and Newey began to show his value in the beverage company.
In 2010, Newey’s designed cars were in the final standings and Red Bull won both championships that year. After 2010, Newey’s car had won seven constructors’ titles and 80 grands prix in total.
For 2011, he is still with the Red Bull team and his designed car, RB7 has won the first two of the three races so far. There is no doubt in Newey’s capability and his mechanical brain that everything he touches turns to gold.
Tags: