ADRIAN NEWEY
Fast-forward 45 years and it just so happens that the core principals Newey studied in that final year project are a key part of the sport ’ s latest regulations , with the recent return of ground-effect flow systems . Clearly , time and technology have moved on , but it is perhaps no coincidence that this depth of knowledge has helped Newey bring Red Bull back to the fore .
BATTLING THE BIG BOYS
Substantial budgets and near-1000 staff of the current Red Bull Racing enterprise is a long way from Newey ’ s original roots in F1 ®. The Leyton House March-Judd 881 which saw his F1 debut was designed through the winter of 1987 by just four engineers and was constructed in a small factory in Bicester that is now home to a fairly nondescript MoT garage .
That car made its debut in 1988 , a season before the turbo engines that had defined the 1980s were to be banned , and to compete against the big teams , 28-yearold Newey had to get creative . Fortunately , the focus on pure power meant that teams had not refined their cars ’ aerodynamics , and that played into the hands of the young engineer ’ s expertise .
‘ They were big clumsy cars pulled along by powerful engines ,’ Newey explained . ‘ We were coming in with a normally aspirated engine , so we knew we ’ d be down on power , and we set about producing a small , aerodynamically efficient car .’ In a complete reverse to standard practice , the body shape was designed first and the mechanical parts had to fit inside it .
The skeletal machine had a host of never previously seen innovations including sculpted front end-plates , a slightly raised nose and a combined front-wing assembly . It was also tiny inside , forcing the drivers to squeeze their feet through a 25cm front bulkhead , with a pedal box so tight there was no place for them to rest a foot off the pedals .
The engine may have been underpowered , but the car was light and fast and after some early niggles it turned a corner midway through the season here at Silverstone , when Mauricio Gugelmin finished fourth . Now far less fragile , the bright aquamarine machine punched above its weight , with Ivan Capelli claiming two podiums and even briefly leading in Japan .
Newey had changed the game , but his next design , the CG891 , suffered reliability issues and was unstable because of false readings , ironically from the Southampton wind tunnel where he had spent so much time in the past . His next , the CG901 , started badly , too , and although a major revision secured a second place in France , by then Newey had already been asked to move on ...
FACTS
Attended Repton School with Jeremy Clarkson ; he left after disrupting a concert and damaging a stained-glass window
Designed championshipwinning cars in the US before F1 ®, winning IMSA GTP titles in 1983- ’ 84 and CART titles in 1985- ’ 86
Races classic cars and competed in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2007 , finishing 22nd overall and 4th in class
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