NEW TIMES May 5-11, 2022 May 5-11, 2022 MIAMI RACE WEEK 2022 GUIDE MIAMI RACE WEEK 2022 GUIDE ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT ADVERTISING SUPPLEMENT RACE MIAMI WEEK Adrian Newey’s cars have won 10 F1 Constructors’ Championship titles and brought Drivers’ titles to Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Häkkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Here’s what Formula 1’s most decorated designer thinks of F1’s new era of cars, and whether his latest creation—the Red Bull Racing RB18—can bring him more titles. Wor ds J U S T IN HY N E S une into any grand prix pre- show and chances are that as part of the buildup you’ll get walked through the grid by a frantic looking presenter trying to strong-arm reluctant drivers into a brief, stilted interview before the alarms sound to clear the grid of all but essential personnel. Chances are, too, that in the background, standing beside a rival car, clipboard in hand, will be Adrian Newey. With his gaze hawkishly alighting on a rear wing or a sidepod profi le, the Red Bull Racing chief technical offi cer patrols the grid before each race he attends, taking mental snapshots of aerodynamic surfaces and fi ling away the results to be either dismissed or explored at a later date. Newey, 63, is into his fi fth decade as a motorsport engineer. But he remains relentlessly competitive and rigorous in his pursuit of perfection. He is, in short, Formula 1’s reference designer, the benchmark by which all others are judged. After studying aeronautics at the University of Southampton and early stints with the Fittipaldi and March F1 teams, Newey fi rst tasted success in the United States, winning a slew of IMSA and CART titles, as well as scoring a pair of Indy 500 wins, including Danny Sullivan’s notorious “spin and win” victory in 1985. But it wasn’t until he joined the Williams team in F1 in late 1990 that his legend was really born. Drivers’ titles were delivered with Nigel Mansell in 1992’s unstoppable FW14B, Alain Prost the following year, Damon Hill in 1996 and Jacques Villeneuve in 1997. Poached by Ron Dennis’s McLaren, Newey took Mika Häkkinen to two world titles in 1998 and 1999. After moving to Red Bull Racing at the end of the team’s debut season in 2005, Newey exploited wholesale rule changes in 2009 to take Sebastian Vettel to four Drivers’ titles between 2010 and 2013, and most recently in the fi nal year of F1’s fi rst generation of hybrid cars, with Max Verstappen. Constructors’ crowns mean the most to an engineer. And though Newey missed out on that title last year, he has 10 Constructors’ titles to his name. The fi re that brought those victories remains. In 2015 Newey elected to step back from day-to-day involvement in the design and development of Red Bull’s cars, citing restrictive rules and dissatisfaction with the hybrid formula as reasons. By 2020, though, F1’s foremost tech wizard was fully back in the game, engaged by the possibilities presented by a competitive Honda power unit and changing rule sets. “We were lucky enough to have a very good run from 2009 through to 2013,” Newey says. “But by the end of ’13, I was honestly just feeling a bit tired, And then with the change from the V8s to the hybrids, our engine partner through those years [Renault] was never really able to provide a competitive unit. I think between 2014 to 2020, there were two or three occasions where we actually had the best chassis package, but we didn’t have a car that could win a championship as an overall package. That becomes a little bit demotivating—realizing that no matter how good your chassis is, you still can’t win the championship.” But the partnership with Honda changed everything. “With that partnership, we had 19 19 2011: RB7 Another dominant triumph for Newey. The car, driven by Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber, scored 18 poles in 19 races and won 12 of the 19 rounds in the 2011 season, another double-title winner. 2013: RB9 The final double-title winner of the pre-hybrid era, a dominant car, with 13 wins. Vettel won the final nine races to establish a record and seal his fourth straight title. In all, RB9 earned 11 pole positions, 24 podium finishes and 12 fastest laps. 2021: RB16B The one that brought the team back to the top. A combination of Honda unlocking power and reliability from its power unit—and Newey and his team fine-tuning RB16 and making the most of the only major changes, to the rear of the floor. NEW TIMES VIC B Y DE T OR SIGN T Y > p . 20
