Adrian Newey
Encyclopedia
Adrian Newey is a notable Formula One
engineer and widely regarded one of the great engineers in the sport's history. He is the only designer to have won Constructors Championships with three different Formula One teams. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing
Formula One
team, having designed their championship-winning Red Bull RB6
and RB7.
Newey has worked in both Formula One
and IndyCar
racing as a race engineer, aerodynamicist, designer and technical director and enjoyed success in both categories. Considered one of the best engineers in Formula One, Newey-inspired designs have won numerous titles and over 80 Grands Prix, dominating much of the 1990s and late-2000s. After designing championship winning Formula One cars for Williams F1 and McLaren
, Newey moved to Red Bull Racing in 2006, winning the Formula One drivers and the constructors championship in 2010 and 2011.
, England, United Kingdom, he attended Repton public school alongside Jeremy Clarkson
. Newey gained a First Class honours degree
in Aeronautics
and Astronautics
from the University of Southampton
in 1980. Immediately after graduation he began working in motor sport for the Fittipaldi Formula One team under Harvey Postlethwaite
. In 1981 he joined the March
team. After a period as race engineer for Johnny Cecotto
in European Formula 2 Newey began designing racing cars. His first project, the March GTP sports car, was a highly successful design and won the IMSA
GTP
title two years running.
In 1983 Newey moved to the March IndyCar
project and began work on the 1984 car. Again, his design proved highly competitive, taking seven victories including the coveted Indy 500. Newey's 85C chassis took the CART
title the following year in the hands of Al Unser
, and his reputation as an outstanding designer was sealed when Bobby Rahal
repeated this success in 1986. Working in the dual roles of designer and race engineer, Newey formed a close friendship with Rahal, a fact which would impact both their careers some fifteen years later.
With his cars regularly winning CART races Newey chose to leave March and return to Europe where he could work in Formula One, joining the FORCE
team in an effort to improve its fortunes. The team withdrew at the conclusion of the 1986 season and Newey was immediately re-hired by March, this time to work in Formula One as chief designer.
In a period when Formula One car aerodynamics were still poorly understood, Newey was able to innovate. His 1988 effort was far more competitive than many expected, even leading the Japanese Grand Prix
briefly, although critics suggested his quest for aerodynamic perfection had compromised the team in other areas. As March became Leyton House
, Newey gained promotion to the role of Technical Director. Despite having arguably the best designer in the sport the team's results began to decline and, in the summer of 1990, Newey was fired, although he didn't have to wait long to find another role.
wasted no time in getting a contract signed. With a vastly superior budget, drivers and resources at his disposal, Newey and Head rapidly became the dominant design partnership of the early 1990s. By mid-season 1991 Newey's FW14
chassis was every bit a match for the previously dominant McLaren, but early season reliability issues and the efforts of Ayrton Senna
prevented Williams team leader, Nigel Mansell
, from taking the title.
In 1992 there would be no problems, and with dominance of the sport not repeated until the Ferrari
/ Schumacher
age, Mansell took the drivers' crown and Newey secured his first constructors' title. 1993 delivered a second, this time with Alain Prost
at the wheel of the conquering FW15C
.
1994 saw a rare dip in performance for Newey-designed cars and the team and drivers struggled to match the Rory Byrne
-designed Benetton
B194 for pace and reliability. Disaster struck at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
with the death of Ayrton Senna
who had joined Williams that year. A late-season charge, helped by the suspension of Schumacher, enabled Williams to claim their third straight constructors' championship. However, Williams were unable to take a third consecutive drivers' title, and with possible manslaughter
charges for Senna's accident in prospect, cracks began to show in Newey's relationship with Williams team management.
By 1995 it was clear that Adrian Newey was once more ready to become technical director of a team, but with Head a share-holding founder of Williams he found his way blocked. Loss of both drivers' and constructors' titles to Benetton in 1995 saw further distance put between Newey and Williams, and by the time Damon Hill
and Jacques Villeneuve
secured both titles in 1996 Newey had been placed on "gardening leave
" prior to joining McLaren.
Unable to influence the design of the 1997 McLaren, Newey was forced to attempt to improve on the Neil Oatley
design while concentrating his efforts on the 1998 car. A win at the 1997 European Grand Prix
saw McLaren enter the off-season on a high, and when the racing resumed four months later the McLaren MP4/13 was the car to beat. Titles followed in 1998 and 1999, and Mika Häkkinen
narrowly missed out on a third drivers' title in 2000.
and Newey, with Byrne engineering Michael Schumacher to 7 titles whilst Adrian Newey engineered Mansell, Prost, Hill, Villeneuve and Häkkinen to 6 titles.
In the summer of 2001 came one of the most significant moves of the season when Bobby Rahal
, by then retired from driving and managing the Jaguar
team, tried to steal Newey away from McLaren in an attempt to leap Jaguar Racing to the front of the field. Despite having a signed contract Rahal was unable to complete the deal when McLaren boss Ron Dennis
persuaded Newey to stay. Details of how exactly he managed this remain vague, although suggestions of a deal allowing Newey to design yachts appeared in the racing media. His change of mind effectively destroyed Rahal's credibility with Jaguar owners Ford
, and he was fired from the team several months later.
Despite remaining with McLaren, rumours persisted that Newey wanted to leave the team, and by late 2004 his future began to look uncertain when speculation began that the engineer could return to Williams or even leave the sport completely. Despite strenuous denials from Ron Dennis stories continued to circulate during the 2004/2005 off-season that Newey's departure was imminent. In April 2005 it was confirmed that his contract with the team had been extended by six months to the end of the year at which point he was expected to take a sabbatical or retire from Formula One design completely, but on 19 July instead he stated that "this step can wait" and he would remain with McLaren for the year 2006.
announced on 8 November 2005 that Newey would join the team from February 2006. The Guardian
reported that Newey would be getting around $10 million a year at Red Bull Racing, owned by Austrian energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz
, after McLaren baulked at increasing his salary in contract renewal negotiations.
Newey could hardly influence the design of the 2006 car and Red Bull's season started with poor results, having scored only 2 points from 6 races. However, the team's lead driver, David Coulthard
, who had successfully driven Newey-designed cars for years for both Williams and McLaren, managed to secure 3rd place and 6 points in the Monaco Grand Prix
. Although assisted by retirements of other competitors, indications were that the team was eventually beginning to pick-up where it left off in 2005 when they finished close 7th overall. The 2007 Red Bull of his design was powered by the Renault RS26 engine as the Ferrari 056 contract was transferred to Scuderia Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing's "B team". The car was reasonably fast but rather unreliable, with each driver retiring 7 times in a season of 17 races. Nevertheless, with the disqualification of McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull achieved fifth place in the 2007 Constructors' Championship as targeted.
Technical directors Adrian Newey and Geoff Willis noted that the 2008 chassis was the most complex to ever have rolled out of the Milton Keynes factory. The season started well for the team, with Mark Webber scoring 5 consecutive points finishes and Coulthard claiming a podium at Montreal. At the half-way mark Red Bull were in a fierce battle for 4th place in the constructors championship, along with Renault and Toyota. However, Red Bull scored just 5 points in the 2nd half of the season (compared to 24 in the first half) as the team slipped down the grid. Interestingly even Toro Rosso managed to outscore them by the end of the season.
The car Newey designed for 2009 represented a large step up in performance for the team, with 1-2 finishes at Shanghai, in a rain affected race, and at the British Grand Prix, both won by Sebastian Vettel
. Webber went on to win in Germany before a hat-trick of wins for the team at the end of the season, including another 1-2 in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull finished the season a comfortable second in the Constructor's championship.
The 2010 Red Bull car (the RB6) started the season well and proved to be the class of the field, winning on circuits requiring strengths in widely differing areas and winning the constructors championship. It took 15 out of a possible 19 pole positions. At the 2010 Brazilian GP, Red Bull won the 2010 Constructors Championship. On 14 November 2010, Newey became the most successful F1 designer ever when Red Bull won the World Drivers' Championship with Sebastian Vettel
.
The 2011 RB7 built on the RB6's speed and also proved to be reliable, making it the clearly dominant car in the pack. The car took 18 of the 19 pole positions and won 12 races. On 9 October 2011, Red Bull won the World Drivers' Championship, making Sebastian Vettel
the youngest double champion in the history of F1. Red Bull followed up this title with securing the constructors championship on 16 October 2011 in Korea
.
races for a few years. He competed in a Ford GT40
in 2006, only to destroy the car in an accident yet escaped with only a cut finger. He later wrecked a Jaguar E-Type
at the Goodwood Revival
Meeting.
In 2007 he made the move to modern racing, becoming part of the driver lineup in the AF Corse Ferrari F430
for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
. Newey and co-drivers Ben Aucott and Joe Macari managed to finish 22nd outright, and fourth in class.
To celebrate his Red Bull Racing team's 1-2s in China and Great Britain Adrian Newey scarified the lawn of Team Principal, Christian Horner by 'donutting' in a Ferrari California.
On 15 June 2010, during the Sony E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, it was revealed that Newey collaborated as the Chief Technical Officer for the upcoming video game, Gran Turismo 5
for the PlayStation 3. A game trailer showed Newey along with race car driver Sebastian Vettel
at the Red Bull Technology
building in Great Britain in discussion with Kazunori Yamauchi
, a Japanese game designer who is the CEO of Polyphony Digital
and creator and producer of the Gran Turismo series. The three's collaboration would later lead to the completion of concept car Red Bull X2010
which appeared in that game.
On 2 July 2010, Newey was awarded with his own Red Bull RB5
, in regards of his achievements with Red Bull Racing since he joined the team in 2006. Newey first drove the car up the hill at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed
.
On 8 August, Newey was involved in an accident whilst taking part in the Ginetta G50 Cup at the Snetterton
circuit as a guest driver. He was spun into the path of Tony Hughes
, and his car sustained a heavy side-on impact. He was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but sustained no serious injuries.
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
engineer and widely regarded one of the great engineers in the sport's history. He is the only designer to have won Constructors Championships with three different Formula One teams. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
team, having designed their championship-winning Red Bull RB6
Red Bull RB6
The Red Bull RB6 is a Formula One motor racing car designed by Red Bull Racing for the campaign. It was driven by World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and was launched on February 10 at Jerez....
and RB7.
Newey has worked in both Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
and IndyCar
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
racing as a race engineer, aerodynamicist, designer and technical director and enjoyed success in both categories. Considered one of the best engineers in Formula One, Newey-inspired designs have won numerous titles and over 80 Grands Prix, dominating much of the 1990s and late-2000s. After designing championship winning Formula One cars for Williams F1 and McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
, Newey moved to Red Bull Racing in 2006, winning the Formula One drivers and the constructors championship in 2010 and 2011.
Early career
Born in Stratford-Upon-AvonStratford-upon-Avon
Stratford-upon-Avon is a market town and civil parish in south Warwickshire, England. It lies on the River Avon, south east of Birmingham and south west of Warwick. It is the largest and most populous town of the District of Stratford-on-Avon, which uses the term "on" to indicate that it covers...
, England, United Kingdom, he attended Repton public school alongside Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Clarkson
Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson is an English broadcaster, journalist and writer who specialises in motoring. He is best known for his role on the BBC TV show Top Gear along with co-presenters Richard Hammond and James May...
. Newey gained a First Class honours degree
Academic degree
An academic degree is a position and title within a college or university that is usually awarded in recognition of the recipient having either satisfactorily completed a prescribed course of study or having conducted a scholarly endeavour deemed worthy of his or her admission to the degree...
in Aeronautics
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
and Astronautics
Astronautics
Astronautics, and related astronautical engineering, is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of space flight....
from the University of Southampton
University of Southampton
The University of Southampton is a British public university located in the city of Southampton, England, a member of the Russell Group. The origins of the university can be dated back to the founding of the Hartley Institution in 1862 by Henry Robertson Hartley. In 1902, the Institution developed...
in 1980. Immediately after graduation he began working in motor sport for the Fittipaldi Formula One team under Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite
Harvey Postlethwaite was a British engineer and Technical Director of several Formula One teams during the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. He died of a heart attack in Spain while supervising the testing of the abortive Honda F1 project...
. In 1981 he joined the March
March Engineering
March Engineering was a Formula One constructor and manufacturer of customer racing cars from the United Kingdom. Although only moderately successful in Grand Prix competition, March racing cars enjoyed much better achievement in other categories of competition including Formula Two, Formula Three,...
team. After a period as race engineer for Johnny Cecotto
Johnny Cecotto
Alberto "Johnny" Cecotto is a former Grand Prix motorcycle road racer and Formula One driver...
in European Formula 2 Newey began designing racing cars. His first project, the March GTP sports car, was a highly successful design and won the IMSA
International Motor Sports Association
The International Motor Sports Association is an American sports car auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
GTP
IMSA GT Championship
IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States and occasionally in Canada.-History:...
title two years running.
In 1983 Newey moved to the March IndyCar
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
project and began work on the 1984 car. Again, his design proved highly competitive, taking seven victories including the coveted Indy 500. Newey's 85C chassis took the CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
title the following year in the hands of Al Unser
Al Unser
Alfred "Al" Unser is a former American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser, Jr....
, and his reputation as an outstanding designer was sealed when Bobby Rahal
Bobby Rahal
Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...
repeated this success in 1986. Working in the dual roles of designer and race engineer, Newey formed a close friendship with Rahal, a fact which would impact both their careers some fifteen years later.
With his cars regularly winning CART races Newey chose to leave March and return to Europe where he could work in Formula One, joining the FORCE
Haas Lola
Team Haas Ltd. was an American Formula One team founded by Carl Haas and Teddy Mayer in 1984, which competed in the World Championship from to . The project was funded by Beatrice Foods and helped the team enter an agreement to use Ford engines for three seasons...
team in an effort to improve its fortunes. The team withdrew at the conclusion of the 1986 season and Newey was immediately re-hired by March, this time to work in Formula One as chief designer.
In a period when Formula One car aerodynamics were still poorly understood, Newey was able to innovate. His 1988 effort was far more competitive than many expected, even leading the Japanese Grand Prix
Japanese Grand Prix
The is a race in the calendar of the FIA Formula One World Championship. Traditionally one of the last, if not the last race of the season, the Japanese Grand Prix has been the venue for many title-deciding races, with 13 World Champions being crowned over the 27 World Championship Japanese...
briefly, although critics suggested his quest for aerodynamic perfection had compromised the team in other areas. As March became Leyton House
Leyton House Racing
Leyton House Racing was a Formula One constructor that raced in the 1990 and 1991 seasons.It was, in essence, a rebranding of the March team which returned to F1 in 1987. Leyton House, a Japanese real estate company, had been the team's marquee sponsor since that year, and went on to buy the team...
, Newey gained promotion to the role of Technical Director. Despite having arguably the best designer in the sport the team's results began to decline and, in the summer of 1990, Newey was fired, although he didn't have to wait long to find another role.
Domination of the 1990s
Through the 1980s and into the 1990s Williams F1 was a top running team, and technical director Patrick HeadPatrick Head
Patrick Head , is co-founder and Engineering Director of the Williams Formula One team.For 25 years from Head was technical director at Williams Grand Prix Engineering, and responsible for many innovations within Formula One. Head oversaw the design and construction of Williams cars until May 2004...
wasted no time in getting a contract signed. With a vastly superior budget, drivers and resources at his disposal, Newey and Head rapidly became the dominant design partnership of the early 1990s. By mid-season 1991 Newey's FW14
Williams FW14
The Williams FW14 was a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey, used by the Williams team during the 1991 and 1992 Formula One seasons. The car was born out of necessity, as the 1989 and 1990 seasons had proven competitive for Williams, but they had underachieved in their own and Renault's eyes....
chassis was every bit a match for the previously dominant McLaren, but early season reliability issues and the efforts of Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
prevented Williams team leader, Nigel Mansell
Nigel Mansell
Nigel Ernest James Mansell OBE is a British racing driver who won both the Formula One World Championship and the CART Indy Car World Series...
, from taking the title.
In 1992 there would be no problems, and with dominance of the sport not repeated until the Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
/ Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
age, Mansell took the drivers' crown and Newey secured his first constructors' title. 1993 delivered a second, this time with Alain Prost
Alain Prost
Alain Marie Pascal Prost, OBE, Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur is a French racing driver. A four-time Formula One Drivers' Champion, Prost has won more titles than any driver except for Juan Manuel Fangio , and Michael Schumacher . From 1987 until 2001 Prost held the record for most Grand Prix...
at the wheel of the conquering FW15C
Williams FW15C
The Williams FW15C was a Renault-powered Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey and built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering. It was raced by Alain Prost and Damon Hill during the 1993 Formula One season....
.
1994 saw a rare dip in performance for Newey-designed cars and the team and drivers struggled to match the Rory Byrne
Rory Byrne
Rory Byrne is a South African engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams....
-designed Benetton
Benetton Formula
Benetton Formula Ltd., commonly referred to simply as Benetton, was a Formula One constructor that participated from to . The team was owned by the Benetton family who run a worldwide chain of clothing stores of the same name. In 2000 the team was purchased by Renault, but competed as Benetton for...
B194 for pace and reliability. Disaster struck at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix
1994 San Marino Grand Prix
The 1994 San Marino Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on May 1, 1994 at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy. It was the third race of the 1994 Formula One season...
with the death of Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna
Ayrton Senna da Silva was a Brazilian racing driver. A three-time Formula One world champion, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest F1 drivers of all time...
who had joined Williams that year. A late-season charge, helped by the suspension of Schumacher, enabled Williams to claim their third straight constructors' championship. However, Williams were unable to take a third consecutive drivers' title, and with possible manslaughter
Manslaughter in English law
In the English law of homicide, manslaughter is a less serious offence than murder, the differential being between levels of fault based on the mens rea . In England and Wales, the usual practice is to prefer a charge of murder, with the judge or defence able to introduce manslaughter as an option...
charges for Senna's accident in prospect, cracks began to show in Newey's relationship with Williams team management.
By 1995 it was clear that Adrian Newey was once more ready to become technical director of a team, but with Head a share-holding founder of Williams he found his way blocked. Loss of both drivers' and constructors' titles to Benetton in 1995 saw further distance put between Newey and Williams, and by the time Damon Hill
Damon Hill
Damon Graham Devereux Hill OBE is a retired British racing driver. In 1996 Hill won the Formula One World Championship. As the son of the late Graham Hill, he is the only son of a world champion to win the title...
and Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Villeneuve
Jacques Joseph Charles Villeneuve, , is a Canadian musician and automobile racing driver. He is the son of the late Formula One driver Gilles Villeneuve, and is the namesake of his uncle...
secured both titles in 1996 Newey had been placed on "gardening leave
Gardening leave
Garden leave describes the practice whereby an employee who is leaving a job is instructed to stay away from work during the notice period, while still remaining on the payroll...
" prior to joining McLaren.
Unable to influence the design of the 1997 McLaren, Newey was forced to attempt to improve on the Neil Oatley
Neil Oatley
Neil Oatley is currently Design and Development Director for the McLaren Formula One team.Graduating from Loughborough University in 1976 with an Automotive Engineering degree, Oatley worked briefly outside motor racing before joining the Williams team in 1977...
design while concentrating his efforts on the 1998 car. A win at the 1997 European Grand Prix
1997 European Grand Prix
The 1997 European Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on October 26, 1997 at the Circuito Permanente de Jerez, Spain. Originally scheduled as the Grand Prix of Portugal at the Estoril circuit, it was moved when Estoril’s management had financial difficulties. It was the 17th and final...
saw McLaren enter the off-season on a high, and when the racing resumed four months later the McLaren MP4/13 was the car to beat. Titles followed in 1998 and 1999, and Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
narrowly missed out on a third drivers' title in 2000.
The McLaren era
At the end of the 1990s Newey stood head and shoulders above his peers with 6 of the previous 10 constructors' titles and sixty-seven wins having been secured by cars of his design. Few would have suspected that five years later Newey's cars would have just 15 more victories and no titles. From 1992 through 2004 the World Drivers' Championship was an exclusive battle between Rory ByrneRory Byrne
Rory Byrne is a South African engineer and car designer, most famous for being the chief designer at the Benetton and Scuderia Ferrari Formula One teams....
and Newey, with Byrne engineering Michael Schumacher to 7 titles whilst Adrian Newey engineered Mansell, Prost, Hill, Villeneuve and Häkkinen to 6 titles.
In the summer of 2001 came one of the most significant moves of the season when Bobby Rahal
Bobby Rahal
Robert "Bobby" Woodward Rahal is an American auto racing driver and team owner. As a driver, he won three championships and 24 races in the CART open-wheel series, including the 1986 Indianapolis 500...
, by then retired from driving and managing the Jaguar
Jaguar Racing
Jaguar Racing was a Formula One team that competed in the FIA Formula One World Championship from 2000 to 2004. It was formed from the purchase by Ford of Jackie Stewart's Stewart Grand Prix Formula One team in June 1999. Ford renamed the team Jaguar Racing as part of its global marketing...
team, tried to steal Newey away from McLaren in an attempt to leap Jaguar Racing to the front of the field. Despite having a signed contract Rahal was unable to complete the deal when McLaren boss Ron Dennis
Ron Dennis
Ronald "Ron" Dennis CBE is the executive chairman of McLaren Automotive and McLaren Group, and is also a significant shareholder in both companies...
persuaded Newey to stay. Details of how exactly he managed this remain vague, although suggestions of a deal allowing Newey to design yachts appeared in the racing media. His change of mind effectively destroyed Rahal's credibility with Jaguar owners Ford
Ford Motor Company
Ford Motor Company is an American multinational automaker based in Dearborn, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The automaker was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. In addition to the Ford and Lincoln brands, Ford also owns a small stake in Mazda in Japan and Aston Martin in the UK...
, and he was fired from the team several months later.
Despite remaining with McLaren, rumours persisted that Newey wanted to leave the team, and by late 2004 his future began to look uncertain when speculation began that the engineer could return to Williams or even leave the sport completely. Despite strenuous denials from Ron Dennis stories continued to circulate during the 2004/2005 off-season that Newey's departure was imminent. In April 2005 it was confirmed that his contract with the team had been extended by six months to the end of the year at which point he was expected to take a sabbatical or retire from Formula One design completely, but on 19 July instead he stated that "this step can wait" and he would remain with McLaren for the year 2006.
Red Bull Racing
Despite those assurances, Red Bull RacingRed Bull Racing
Red Bull Racing is a Formula One racing team based in Milton Keynes, England which currently holds an Austrian licence. It is, along with Scuderia Toro Rosso, one of two teams owned by beverage company Red Bull GmbH. The team have won two Constructors' Championship titles, in and , becoming the...
announced on 8 November 2005 that Newey would join the team from February 2006. The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
reported that Newey would be getting around $10 million a year at Red Bull Racing, owned by Austrian energy drink billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz
Dietrich Mateschitz
Dietrich Mateschitz is an Austrian businessman who co-founded the Red Bull energy drink company and holds 49 per cent of the company's shares.-Biography:...
, after McLaren baulked at increasing his salary in contract renewal negotiations.
Newey could hardly influence the design of the 2006 car and Red Bull's season started with poor results, having scored only 2 points from 6 races. However, the team's lead driver, David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
, who had successfully driven Newey-designed cars for years for both Williams and McLaren, managed to secure 3rd place and 6 points in the Monaco Grand Prix
2006 Monaco Grand Prix
The 2006 Monaco Grand Prix was the seventh race of the 2006 Formula One World Championship. It took place on the weekend of May 25–28th 2006 at the Circuit de Monaco. Prior to the race, Renault's Fernando Alonso had finished on the podium in all of the previous six Grands Prix, winning three of...
. Although assisted by retirements of other competitors, indications were that the team was eventually beginning to pick-up where it left off in 2005 when they finished close 7th overall. The 2007 Red Bull of his design was powered by the Renault RS26 engine as the Ferrari 056 contract was transferred to Scuderia Toro Rosso, Red Bull Racing's "B team". The car was reasonably fast but rather unreliable, with each driver retiring 7 times in a season of 17 races. Nevertheless, with the disqualification of McLaren-Mercedes, Red Bull achieved fifth place in the 2007 Constructors' Championship as targeted.
Technical directors Adrian Newey and Geoff Willis noted that the 2008 chassis was the most complex to ever have rolled out of the Milton Keynes factory. The season started well for the team, with Mark Webber scoring 5 consecutive points finishes and Coulthard claiming a podium at Montreal. At the half-way mark Red Bull were in a fierce battle for 4th place in the constructors championship, along with Renault and Toyota. However, Red Bull scored just 5 points in the 2nd half of the season (compared to 24 in the first half) as the team slipped down the grid. Interestingly even Toro Rosso managed to outscore them by the end of the season.
The car Newey designed for 2009 represented a large step up in performance for the team, with 1-2 finishes at Shanghai, in a rain affected race, and at the British Grand Prix, both won by Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
. Webber went on to win in Germany before a hat-trick of wins for the team at the end of the season, including another 1-2 in Abu Dhabi. Red Bull finished the season a comfortable second in the Constructor's championship.
The 2010 Red Bull car (the RB6) started the season well and proved to be the class of the field, winning on circuits requiring strengths in widely differing areas and winning the constructors championship. It took 15 out of a possible 19 pole positions. At the 2010 Brazilian GP, Red Bull won the 2010 Constructors Championship. On 14 November 2010, Newey became the most successful F1 designer ever when Red Bull won the World Drivers' Championship with Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
.
The 2011 RB7 built on the RB6's speed and also proved to be reliable, making it the clearly dominant car in the pack. The car took 18 of the 19 pole positions and won 12 races. On 9 October 2011, Red Bull won the World Drivers' Championship, making Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
the youngest double champion in the history of F1. Red Bull followed up this title with securing the constructors championship on 16 October 2011 in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
.
Personal motorsports activities
Adrian Newey is an avid sports car collector and driver, having participated in the Le Mans LegendLe Mans Legend
The Le Mans Legend is a vintage sports car race held during the 24 Hours of Le Mans festivities. Created in 2001, it was created by the Motor Racing Legends group, and supported by the ACO, organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans....
races for a few years. He competed in a Ford GT40
Ford GT40
The Ford GT40 was a high performance sports car and winner of the 24 hours of Le Mans four times in a row, from 1966 to 1969...
in 2006, only to destroy the car in an accident yet escaped with only a cut finger. He later wrecked a Jaguar E-Type
Jaguar E-type
The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E is a British automobile, manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring...
at the Goodwood Revival
Goodwood Revival
The Goodwood Revival is a three-day festival held each September since 1998 for the types of road racing cars and motorcycle that would have competed during the circuit's original period—1948-1966. It is one of the world’s most popular motor race meetings and the only UK event which recreates the...
Meeting.
In 2007 he made the move to modern racing, becoming part of the driver lineup in the AF Corse Ferrari F430
Ferrari F430
The Ferrari F430 is a sports car that was produced by the Italian automaker Ferrari from 2004 to 2009, as a successor to the 360. It debuted at the 2004 Paris Motor Show...
for the 24 Hours of Le Mans
2007 24 Hours of Le Mans
The 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans was the 75th Grand Prix of Endurance, and took place at the Circuit de la Sarthe, Le Mans, France from 16–17 June 2007. Four classes of cars raced together, with each class having honors for its highest finishers...
. Newey and co-drivers Ben Aucott and Joe Macari managed to finish 22nd outright, and fourth in class.
To celebrate his Red Bull Racing team's 1-2s in China and Great Britain Adrian Newey scarified the lawn of Team Principal, Christian Horner by 'donutting' in a Ferrari California.
On 15 June 2010, during the Sony E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo press conference, it was revealed that Newey collaborated as the Chief Technical Officer for the upcoming video game, Gran Turismo 5
Gran Turismo 5
is the fifth edition of the Gran Turismo racing video game series. Developed by Polyphony Digital and published by Sony Computer Entertainment, it was released for PlayStation 3 on November 24, 2010...
for the PlayStation 3. A game trailer showed Newey along with race car driver Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel
Sebastian Vettel is a German Formula One racing driver, currently driving for Red Bull Racing. He is the current World Champion, having won the championship in and ....
at the Red Bull Technology
Red Bull Technology
Red Bull Technology is a subsidiary of energy drink company Red Bull relating to motor racing. It was set up by Red Bull to design, engineer and build the chassis for its Formula One racing team, Red Bull Racing....
building in Great Britain in discussion with Kazunori Yamauchi
Kazunori Yamauchi
is a Japanese game designer, professional racing driver, and most notably, CEO of Polyphony Digital and producer of the Gran Turismo series. He became the president of Polyphony Digital after designing his first game Motor Toon Grand Prix, a cartoon-inspired racing title similar to Mario Kart...
, a Japanese game designer who is the CEO of Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital
Polyphony Digital, Inc. is an internal video game developing company of Sony Computer Entertainment and is part of Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios...
and creator and producer of the Gran Turismo series. The three's collaboration would later lead to the completion of concept car Red Bull X2010
Red Bull X2010
The Red Bull X2010 is a fictional prototype vehicle featured in the PlayStation 3 video game Gran Turismo 5...
which appeared in that game.
On 2 July 2010, Newey was awarded with his own Red Bull RB5
Red Bull RB5
The Red Bull RB5 is a Formula One racing car designed by the Red Bull Racing team for the 2009 Formula One season, and was driven by Sebastian Vettel, who drove for Red Bull's sister team Toro Rosso in the 2008 season, and Mark Webber...
, in regards of his achievements with Red Bull Racing since he joined the team in 2006. Newey first drove the car up the hill at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed
Goodwood Festival of Speed
The Goodwood Festival of Speed, commonly abbreviated as FoS and referred within the United Kingdom as simply the Festival of Speed, is an annual hill climb featuring historic motor racing vehicles that is held in the grounds of Goodwood House, West Sussex, England.Typically held in late June or...
.
On 8 August, Newey was involved in an accident whilst taking part in the Ginetta G50 Cup at the Snetterton
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit
Snetterton Motor Racing Circuit is a motor racing circuit in Norfolk, England. Owned by MotorSport Vision, it is situated on the A11 road some 20 km north-east of the town of Thetford and 30 km south-west of the city of Norwich...
circuit as a guest driver. He was spun into the path of Tony Hughes
Tony Hughes (racing driver)
Tony Hughes is a British auto racing driver and businessman. He is the managing director of Hughes Safety Showers.-Racing career:...
, and his car sustained a heavy side-on impact. He was taken to hospital for precautionary checks, but sustained no serious injuries.
F1 Championships
Newey-designed cars have won the following Formula One World Constructors' Championships:- 19921992 Formula One seasonThe 1992 Formula One season was the 43rd FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 1, 1992, and ended on November 8 after sixteen races...
- Williams FW14B - 19931993 Formula One seasonThe 1993 Formula One season was the 44th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1993 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 14, 1993 and ended on November 7 after sixteen races...
- Williams FW15CWilliams FW15CThe Williams FW15C was a Renault-powered Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey and built by Williams Grand Prix Engineering. It was raced by Alain Prost and Damon Hill during the 1993 Formula One season.... - 19941994 Formula One seasonThe 1994 Formula One season was the 45th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1994 FIA Formula One World Championship which commenced on March 27, 1994, and ended on November 13 after sixteen races. The season is remembered as one of the most tragic and controversial seasons in...
- Williams FW16Williams FW16The Williams FW16 was a Formula One car used by the Williams team for the 1994 Formula One season. It was designed by Adrian Newey with the major regulation changes that the FIA had introduced in the off-season, banning the electronic devices that had been used by the front running cars during the... - 19961996 Formula One seasonThe 1996 Formula One season was the 47th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1996 FIA Formula One World Championship, which commenced on March 10, 1996, and ended on October 13 after sixteen races...
- Williams FW18Williams FW18The Williams-Renault FW18 is a Formula One car designed by Patrick Head and Adrian Newey for the 1996 Formula One season. Powered by a 3.0 litre Renault V10 engine, the FW18 drew heavily on the 1995 Williams car, the FW17, but featured new driver protection as regulated by the FIA for the new season... - 19971997 Formula One seasonThe 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
- Williams FW19Williams FW19The Williams FW19 was the car with which the Williams Formula One team used to compete in the 1997 Formula One season. It was driven by Jacques Villeneuve, who was in his second year with the team, and Heinz-Harald Frentzen, who moved from Sauber to replace the dropped champion, Damon Hill... - 19981998 Formula One seasonThe 1998 Formula One season was the 49th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 8, 1998, and ended on November 1 after sixteen races.-Season summary:...
- McLaren MP4/13McLaren MP4/13The McLaren MP4/13 was a racing car that the McLaren Formula One team used during the 1998 Formula 1 season. The dominance of the MP4/13 was displayed in the opening race of the season, the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. Drivers Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard outclassed the competition by leaving... - 20102010 Formula One seasonThe 2010 Formula One season was the 61st Formula One season of World Championship motor racing competition. Red Bull Racing won its maiden Constructors' Championship with a one-two finish in Brazil, while Red Bull Racing's Sebastian Vettel won the Drivers' Championship after winning the final race...
- Red Bull RB6Red Bull RB6The Red Bull RB6 is a Formula One motor racing car designed by Red Bull Racing for the campaign. It was driven by World Champion Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber and was launched on February 10 at Jerez.... - 20112011 Formula One seasonThe 2011 Formula One season was the 62nd FIA Formula One season. The original calendar consisted of twenty rounds, including the inaugural running of the Indian Grand Prix before the cancellation of the Bahrain Grand Prix. Pirelli returned to the sport as tyre supplier for all teams, taking over...
- Red Bull RB7Red Bull RB7The Red Bull RB7 is a Formula One racing car designed by the Red Bull Racing team for the 2011 Formula One season. It was driven by defending champion Sebastian Vettel and Australian driver Mark Webber. The car was launched at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia, Spain on 1 February 2011...