ADRIAN NEWEY
The energy drink brand had bought the failing Jaguar team that he had so nearly previously joined and , in just one year , turned it into a regular points scorer . Newey felt it had potential and , lured by team boss Christian Horner , advisor Helmut Marko and lead driver David Coulthard , with whom he had worked at McLaren , he signed up to the task in November 2005 .
This time , success was a slow burner . As Renault , Ferrari , McLaren and BMW Sauber fought for wins ahead , Red Bull remained in midfield , picking up the occasional podium placing . The first came for Coulthard at Monaco in 2006 , but it took four years from when Newey arrived for the first win to come , with a 1-2 for Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber in China in 2009 .
That was the year that the self-named team of Newey ’ s design nemesis , Ross Brawn , was formed from the ashes of Honda and dumbfounded the top teams with its double diffuser . It raced to six wins from the first seven races , but once Newey had created his own version of the innovation , Red Bull led the chase and only just missed out on the title by 18.5 points .
The following season saw big technical changes once again , with a refuelling ban completely changing the weight of the cars . That enabled Newey to do what he does best – create a new machine from , quite literally , a clean sheet of paper – and true to form , it was his solution , the legendary Renault-powered RB6 , that came out on top .
The machine secured Red Bull its first Constructors ’ crown while Sebastian Vettel started a run of four consecutive World Drivers ’ titles . The team was knocked off its perch in 2014 , when Renault ’ s power unit for 1.6-litre turbo V6 engine formula struggled against
↑ Adrian enjoying sampling his creation at Goodwood in 2011
the opposition , but after a long period of Mercedes dominance , a dogged Newey slowly clawed Red Bull back into contention .
In 2021 , Max Verstappen became Red Bull ’ s second youngest ever Champion , and the team has dominated ever since . Last year ’ s RB19 is arguably Newey ’ s greatest work : the most dominant car in F1 ® history , taking 14 poles , 30 podiums and a 95 per cent success rate with 21 wins from 22 races .
So , how do you follow that ? Newey always seems to find a way , using those core principals of detail and innovation . His ideas , he says , often emerge in the shower or on a walk , and he once explained : ‘ F1 design is a blend of art and physics . You come up with fresh ideas from the artistic side of the brain – but if they fail in the wind tunnel , you have to discard them .’
After his shock decision to leave Red Bull , Newey ’ s future is now somewhat uncertain . A bidding war has begun for the sport ’ s champion designer and wherever he ends up next , regulation changes in 2026 will give him yet another clean sheet to start from . The end of an era , then . But , quite probably , the start of a new one just around the corner . •
“The RB19 was the most dominant car in F1 ® history ”
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