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Adrian Newey: Who is Red Bull’s Chief Technical Officer?

September 10, 2024
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Who’s Adrian Newey? 

Adrian Newey is an F1 engineer and the departing chief technical officer at Red Bull Racing. He has held a number of roles throughout his 44-year profession, together with time as a race engineer, aerodynamicist, and automotive designer.  

Newey was born in Stratford-upon-Avon on 26 December 1958 and attended faculty alongside former High Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. He then attended the College of Southampton, the place he graduated in 1980 with a first-class honours diploma in aeronautics and astronautics. 

He began his profession in motorsport straight after graduating when he was employed by the Fittipaldi F1 workforce. A 12 months later he joined the workforce at March, the place he labored as a race engineer for Johnny Cecotto in European F2.  

Adrian Newey, Leyton Home March designer

Picture by: LAT Photographic

Newey’s first automotive design challenge was the March sportscar that gained the IMSA GTP title for 2 consecutive years. He then moved to the constructor’s Indycar challenge in 1984, the place he helped with the automotive design, alongside working as race engineer for Bobby Rahal at Truesports. 

For 1985, Newey designed the March 85C, which gained a number of rounds of the CART World Collection for Indycars and carried Al Unser Sr to the title, and Danny Sullivan to victory on the Indianapolis 500. He then determined to maneuver to Kraco Racing in 1986 to work as an engineer on Michael Andretti’s automotive. The March 86C, which he designed, carried Rahal to the CART and Indy 500 titles. 

Newey was set to return to F1 on the finish of 1986 when he was employed by the Haas Lola F1 workforce, however the squad withdrew on the finish of the season. He then returned to the CART championship firstly of 1987, becoming a member of Newman-Haas Racing to work as Mario Andretti’s race engineer. 

How lengthy has Adrian Newey labored in Formulation 1?  

Adrian Newey has had a profession in Formulation 1 spanning over 4 many years. After beginning out with Fittipaldi Automotive in 1980, he finally returned to F1 in 1988 when he was rehired by March as chief designer. 

The March 881 was the first F1 car designed by Newey, and stunned many with robust performances within the palms of Ivan Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin. The perfect outcome was Capelli’s second place within the 1988 Portuguese Grand Prix, with the Italian even difficult the McLaren of chief Alain Prost earlier than backing off to keep away from engine points. 
The workforce turned Leyton Home Racing in 1990 and Newey was promoted to technical director. However he was shortly fired that summer season, simply days earlier than the French Grand Prix. He determined to show down the provide to develop into technical director for Arrows, as an alternative selecting to maneuver to Williams as chief designer. 

Newey labored alongside technical chief Patrick Head at Williams between 1991 and 1996. The FW14 of 1991, designed by Newey, proved a match for the beforehand dominant McLaren, with Nigel Mansell taking it to second within the championship, 24 factors behind McLaren’s Ayrton Senna. 

Adrian Newey, Patrick Head and David Coulthard, Williams

Adrian Newey, Patrick Head and David Coulthard, Williams

Picture by: Sutton Pictures

In 1992, Williams and Mansell dominated the constructors’ and drivers’ championships, with Alain Prost claiming a transparent victory the next 12 months with the FW15C. Williams’s efficiency took a dip in 1994 when the automotive struggled in opposition to Benetton’s B194, designed by Rory Byrne.  

The workforce confronted devastation in 1994 when Senna, who had joined Williams firstly of the 12 months, crashed fatally within the San Marino Grand Prix. A number of members of the Williams workforce, together with Newey, have been charged with manslaughter. He was acquitted in 1997, an consequence which was upheld following an enchantment in 1999. Newey was given full acquittal in 2005 after the Italian Supreme Courtroom had reopened the case two years earlier.  

Williams introduced in David Coulthard to alternate with the returning Mansell alongside lead driver Damon Hill. Type improved and Williams claimed its third consecutive constructors’ championship, though Benetton’s Michael Schumacher controversially gained the drivers’ crown. 

Newey’s relationship with the workforce’s administration started to disintegrate on the finish of 1994, and the next 12 months he was unable to progress to develop into technical director. After defeat by the hands of Schumacher and Benetton within the 1995 championships, Williams and Hill claimed a constructors’/drivers’ double in 1996, however Newey had already been positioned on gardening depart. 

Throughout his six seasons with Williams, Newey’s automobiles gained 59 races and took 78 pole positions, in addition to 4 drivers’ and constructors’ titles.  

When did Adrian Newey be a part of McLaren? 

Adrian Newey joined McLaren in 1997, the place he tried to enhance the MP4/12 that was designed by Neil Oatley – alongside engaged on a brand new automotive for 1998. That machine, the MP4/13, carried Mika Hakkinen to his first F1 crown, and gained McLaren the constructors’ championship.  

There was one other double success for Hakkinen and McLaren in 1999 with the MP4/14, however the MP4/15 was narrowly overwhelmed to each titles in 2000 by Schumacher and the Ferrari F1-2000 designed by Byrne. Newey regarded set to depart the workforce in 2001 when he signed a contract with the Jaguar F1 squad. This was headed by his former CART colleague Rahal, however McLaren boss Ron Dennis satisfied Newey to stay along with his workforce. 

Adrian Newey and Ron Dennis on the McLaren pit wall.

Adrian Newey and Ron Dennis on the McLaren pit wall.

Picture by: Motorsport Images

Rumours accelerated round Newey’s need to depart the workforce in 2004 however have been constantly denied by Dennis. In April 2005, Newey signed an prolonged contract to the tip of the season earlier than saying that he would stay with the workforce for 2006. 

When did Adrian Newey be a part of Purple Bull Racing?  

Regardless of stating his dedication to McLaren for the 2006 season, it was introduced in November 2005 that Newey would be a part of Purple Bull Racing from February, for the workforce’s second season. Attributable to his late begin with the workforce, he had minimal affect on the 2006 design, and the workforce began with disappointing outcomes. 

The 2007 RB3 was the primary Newey-designed automotive, and gave Purple Bull its highest outcome within the constructors’ championship: fifth, bettering on seventh within the two earlier years. Mark Webber scored the workforce’s greatest outcome with third within the European Grand Prix on the Nurburgring, however the RB3 was unreliable, and each Webber and Coulthard retired seven instances every throughout the 17-race season. The RB4 in 2008 regarded very totally different from its predecessor however conceptually remained a lot the identical. Newey described it as: “an evolution, so it would make it simpler for the workforce this 12 months as they’ve realized easy methods to work with it.” 

The workforce scored only one podium in 2008, with Coulthard taking third place within the Canadian Grand Prix. Webber scored factors in 5 consecutive races within the first half of the season, however the workforce scored simply 5 factors within the final half of the 12 months. 

Newey described the RB5 of 2009 as “quite an aggressive design”. Sebastian Vettel gave the workforce its maiden F1 win within the Chinese language GP, which was the primary of two 1-2 finishes – the opposite got here at Silverstone – wherein Vettel led residence Webber. The automotive took six wins and 16 podium locations over the 17-event season and gave Vettel and Purple Bull the runner-up positions within the drivers’ and constructors’ championships.  
The RB6 of 2010 built on the success of its predecessor, with Newey referring to an try to “refine and evolve” the RB5. “One apparent distinction is that the 2009 automotive was not designed to go well with a double diffuser and we needed to attempt to put one on as greatest we might across the present rear suspension and gearbox,” he mentioned. “With this automotive, we’ve been capable of design that a part of the automotive by scratch.” 
Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, 2nd position and 2023 world drivers champion, in Parc Ferme with Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey, Chief Technology Officer, Red Bull Racing, his team after the Sprint race

Max Verstappen, Purple Bull Racing, 2nd place and 2023 world drivers champion, in Parc Ferme with Christian Horner, Group Principal, Purple Bull Racing, Adrian Newey, Chief Know-how Officer, Purple Bull Racing, his workforce after the Dash race

Picture by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The RB6 proved to be an even bigger leap for Purple Bull, profitable 9 races and 20 podiums. The workforce took its first constructors’ championship, and Vettel the primary of 4 consecutive drivers’ crowns.  

The next 12 months, the RB7 proved to be essentially the most dominant automotive on the grid, with Vettel profitable 11 out of 19 races in 2011 and Webber taking one additional victory. Vettel and Purple Bull once more gained the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. 

Newey mentioned: “Regulation restrictions just like the misplaced exhaust are a bit irritating in fact, as a result of they’re precisely that, they’re restrictions, they don’t seem to be giving new alternatives or revenues notably, they’re simply closing a door.” However changes produced aerodynamic features that resulted in one other Vettel/Purple Bull title double.  

After a troublesome begin in 2013, a mid-season change in tyre spec resulted within the RB9 changing into essentially the most profitable automotive on the grid. Purple Bull secured yet one more constructors’ title and Vettel gained his fourth and last drivers’ championship.  

Purple Bull then confronted a troublesome few years, with the brand new V6 turbo-hybrid energy models launched in 2014 proving a troublesome problem for engine provider Renault. In June 2014, Newey prolonged his take care of a “multi-year contract”, but it surely was introduced that his involvement with the team would be reduced. Nonetheless, simply months after the announcement was made, workforce principal Christian Horner revealed that Newey would stay because the chief technical officer. 
Over the next years, aside from the RB11 in 2015, Purple Bull gained only a handful of races every season and the workforce was unable to take any titles till 2021. That 12 months, the workforce took 11 wins and an extra 23 podiums earlier than Max Verstappen claimed the drivers’ championship in a dramatic last race. 
Newey shared that he had spent “arguably longer than we should have done” specializing in the RB16 in 2021, and that that they had continued to develop the automotive over the 12 months in an try to win the championship. This gave the workforce restricted time to develop the RB18 for 2022, with Newey saying: “That gave us loads to do over the winter. What we tried to deal with was getting the basics of the automotive proper as this 12 months’s automotive, after which hoping that will give us the event potential to sort of refine it.” 

After an in depth battle with Ferrari throughout the first half of the 12 months, the RB18 was capable of pull forward and show its dominance. The workforce took the drivers’ and the constructors’ championships, the primary time the workforce had gained each titles since 2013. 

The RB19 is arguably some of the dominant automobiles in F1 historical past, winning 21 out of the 22 races that took place in 2023. Newey informed F1’s Past the Grid podcast: “This has been our greatest run of success that I’ve actually ever skilled. I’ve been lucky sufficient to have been concerned in automobiles which have been dominant up to now, however we’ve by no means had this stage of consistency.” 

The RB20 initially continued the workforce’s dominating streak in 2024, with Verstappen profitable 4 out of the 5 first races, earlier than McLaren started to pose a problem.  

What number of world championships has Adrian Newey gained?  

Adrian Newey is likely one of the most profitable engineers in Formulation 1 historical past, with multiple championship titles to his name. His automobiles have gained 12 constructors’ championships: 5 with Williams (1992-94 and 1996-97); one with McLaren (1998); and 6 at Purple Bull (2010-13 and 2022-23). 
Newey-designed automobiles have additionally produced 13 drivers’ championship titles throughout his profession: Nigel Mansell (1992); Alain Prost (1993); Damon Hill (1996); Jacques Villeneuve (1997); Mika Hakkinen (1998-99); Sebastian Vettel (2010-13); and Max Verstappen (2021-23).  

Listed here are all of the titles gained by Newey-designed automobiles: 

Constructors’ Champion 

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