Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey (born the December 26th 1958 with Stratford-upon-Avon, England) is a British engineer. He is the current chief technical officer of the stable of Formule 1 Red Bull Racing.

Biography

Left in 1980 the university of Southampton (with an aeronautical diploma for the occupation of engineer), Adrian Newey reaches directly the automobile sport since it is recruited by the stable of Brazilian Formula 1 Fittipaldi Automotive as an aerodynamicist (its speciality). The following year, it joined the firm March Engineering, committed on all fronts of the automobile sport. After having worked as engineer of race of Johnny Cecotto in Formula 2, then after having conceived March GTP IMSA, it takes the technical direction of the March project in CART. With the hands of pilots such as Al Unser and Bobby Rahal, its creations will glaneront with many successes.

In 1986, Adrian Newey joined Europe, where it is called to steal to the help of the Anglo-American stable of F1 FORCE. But the experiment is of short duration since FORCE gives up F1 quickly. Newey turns over then to March, but this time Formulates 1 of them, in the capacity as designer as a chief. Since 1988, the astonishing performances of March of Mauricio Gugelmin and especially Ivan Capelli clarify qualities of Newey, which starts to become one of the young engineers more for bed. Its creations are however not free from reproaches, and of many observers estimate that the ideas extrèmes of Newey as regards aérodynamisme develop sometimes with the detriment of other parameters. The illustration is brought from there at the time of the season 1990, where in the 15 days space, the Leyton-House (new name of the March stable) know the humiliation of the not-qualification on the bumps of the circuit of Mexico City, before dominating competition over the perfectly smooth layout of Castellet (Ivan Capelli missing the victory only by accuracy). These too irregular results are worth to him (whereas it had been appointed chief technical officer of Leyton-House meanwhile) to be made dismiss during the summer 1990.

Newey does not remain a long time without employment, and knowing it about the market, the stable Williams - Renault hastens to recruit it in the capacity as designer as a chief. With financial resources much higher than at March, and perfectly framed by its pragmatic and tried out chief technical officer Patrick Head who avoids to him falling down in his excesses of youth, Newey opens out finally completely. It is thus at the origin of the line of Williams-Renault which will trusteront victories and world titles (4 titles " pilote" and 5 titles " constructeur") over one period going from 1991 to 1997.

In 1997, when Villeneuve and Williams is crowned champions on the car drawn by Newey, this last already left the stable. During the season, it was indeed recruited by McLaren with the key a beautiful financial but also professional promotion since it is named chief technical officer (station which it could with difficulty aspire to at Williams because of the presence of the history Patrick Head, by aillor joint owner of the stable). At McLaren, the Newey effect is not long in being made feel since Hakkinen dominates the championship 1998, before being crowned again in 1999. The observers do not fail either to point out that Williams, in his absence, are nothing any more but the shade of than they were. With the fact of its glory, Newey is then regarded as a true maker of victories, and becomes a " star" bed, as well as the best pilots.

The continuation of the events will however be a little more difficult. From 2000, McLaren-Mercedes de Newey are regularly dominated by the Ferrari. The image of the British engineer is scrambled also a little by its truth-false departure from McLaren at the time of the summer 2001. Recruited by the stable Jaguar (then directed by the American old driver Bobby Rahal, with which there had remained friendly since their profitable collaboration in CART nearly 15 years earlier), Newey makes volte-face later a few days, to remain finally at McLaren, which knew to find the arguments to retain it. But to have known to retain Newey does not prevent McLaren from slipping into the hierarchy of Formula 1. If the fall of form of McLaren is mainly ascribable to the motor mechanic Mercedes, the responsibility for Newey is on the other hand directly committed in the fiasco of the McLaren MP4-18, designed to dispute the season 2003, but which will finally never be aligned in race, following insoluble engineering problems, and in particular an incapacity to pass the obligatory crash landing-test of TRUSTED. The reputation which Newey at the time of its March years had, that of an engineer to the brilliant ideas but missing pragmatism sometimes re-appears then.

Arrived in end of cycle with McLaren, Newey creates the feeling by announcing during the winter 2005-2006 its departure for the stable Red Bull Racing. Been able to too late have a real influence on the results of the season 2006, it on the other hand directed the team of engineers in charge of the design of the RB03 which disputes the season 2007.

In addition to its activity of engineer 1 Formulates some, Adrian Newey carries out a modest career of pilot amateur. In 2006, it attracted itself the sarcastic remarks by destroying a Ford GT40 at the time of the race " Mans Legend" (a compétitition reserved for the old cars) before making undergo the same fate with a Standard Jaguar with the " Goodwood Festival off Speed". In 2007, it made the dead end on the North-American round of the championship of the world of F1 in order to take part for the first time in the 24 hours of Mans: at the wheel of a Ferrari F430, it finished with honourable a 22e place, 4th of category GT2. ----

Random links: