Adrian Newey Leaves Red Bull Racing

[Watto]

Specifically, on this car [the RB18] I did the front and rear suspension and a few other bits and pieces. From an exclusive article in 2022 on The Race.

in this article write that he didnt do even research, that is not correct, journalist write nonsense..



Adrian Newey said:

" I’ve been at it for a long time now, 2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship and, at the same time, putting all the research and development into the [RB]18, which was the father of this generation of cars.
There comes a point I think where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, ‘a little bit tired."




https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... PtlvFQA0Uy

So? Just states what the team was doing in 2021, not the specific things he was doing personally. But we know from the quote I provided his main point of focus was the suspension.

yeah agree here and the suspension was a pretty critical part of the design here too so played a huge role in everything else they could do .

[Bill]

It is well known what the role of the Chief Technical Officer is.

Not sure how that relates to your misinformation about what he said in the video?

About his rol, Horner himself said that Newey was kind of a free roaming spirit in RB, with no real responsibilities or role definition. The Technical Director reports directly to Horner.

Just wait 2026, then you will understand..

if redbull are bad in 2026 in all likelihood it will be because of weak power unit .i see a lot of article being written about how the loss of Newey is going to affect redbull but curiously no one ever wrote an article about how the loss of Honda is going to affect them.Newey competence did not overcome a weak renault.it pretty clear that people are selective and biased on who gets credits or they like cult of a man.the script of 2026 news have already being written

[Cs98]

in this article write that he didnt do even research, that is not correct, journalist write nonsense..



Adrian Newey said:

" I’ve been at it for a long time now, 2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship and, at the same time, putting all the research and development into the [RB]18, which was the father of this generation of cars.
There comes a point I think where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, ‘a little bit tired."




https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... PtlvFQA0Uy

So? Just states what the team was doing in 2021, not the specific things he was doing personally. But we know from the quote I provided his main point of focus was the suspension.

yeah agree here and the suspension was a pretty critical part of the design here too so played a huge role in everything else they could do .

Absolutely, the suspension is critical.

[langedweil]

if redbull are bad in 2026 in all likelihood it will be because of weak power unit .i see a lot of article being written about how the loss of Newey is going to affect redbull but curiously no one ever wrote an article about how the loss of Honda is going to affect them.

I'd agree, while it's mostly an PU/KERS there will be some chassis changes as well.
I just wonder if making the chassis slimmer and shorter will make a huge difference to the concept as a whole ? I mean, things will change, but I don't see it anywhere near the levels of change for 2022 with introduction of GE and the rebirth of the porpoising fenomenon.
So indeed I think there will be a bigger loss with Honda leaving than AN leaving, as the latter would always leave somewhere in the near future ...

[Fluido]

Only bad engineering managers claim credit for the achievements of the team as their own. It is a great way to demotivate the team and make them lose respect for you.

A good manager downplays his own role and credits the team for the achievement. With the media hype on Newey, this is even more important.

Yes for sure.
Members know it, but they deliberately interpret his sentences to their advantage.

[CHT]

Has Newey started working for Ferrari? Or still spying for Rbr?

[CHT]

James Vowels is in talks with Newey for a Williams opportunity.

May be he can now own part of he team, which he didn't get and that's why he left back in 90s.

That would be one of the greatest things Newey could ever do. Take part ownership of the team, take full control of the entire aero department, and invest himself fully into the project knowing he will be there likely till he dies as a part owner. Whatever improvement Williams experienced, the vast majority would be attributed to him if he went. What an opportunity. Newey could turn Williams around over 5-8 years and solidify his goat status. Put all nay sayers to sleep. It would be epic epic stuff. Imo, a much tastier option over Ferrari simply because he could be part owner. Big step up from just an employee. He could really do it.

As much as I like the idea, I do think that AN will not be blinded by such fantasy and jump into team ownership. As the saying goes, to own a small team, you have to start with a big one.

When AN join RBR, he too spoke about being skeptical whenever some rich investors buy into the team with big plans but lack long sustainability plan. For AN to become team owner, he will need a trusted partner who can take care of the business. Someone like CH will be ideal I think.

AN did mentioned that CH is a business partner. Perhaps AN is already a part owner of some company within RBR?

[ME4ME]

I think he cares less about part-ownership, financial compensation etc and more about having a real say in the major decisions which will determine the trajectory of the Williams team, such as PU supplier, make/buy decisions on for example gearbox and suspension components, investment priority decisions, driver line-up.

If he's to save the team competitively they better enable him. Otherwise there is no point.

[Watto]

I think he cares less about part-ownership, financial compensation etc and more about having a real say in the major decisions which will determine the trajectory of the Williams team, such as PU supplier, make/buy decisions on for example gearbox and suspension components, investment priority decisions, driver line-up.

If he's to save the team competitively they better enable him. Otherwise there is no point.

Feels like too bit a challenge if it was 10 years ago maybe but you'd think its going to take him 5 years or so to really turn them around. Puts him to 70 and alot more stress.

I wouldn't rule it out completely purely on if the notion or bringing back a team he had success with early on may appeal to him. As AN has said money isn't an issue for him he does what he enjoys.

[pipoloko]

So? Just states what the team was doing in 2021, not the specific things he was doing personally. But we know from the quote I provided his main point of focus was the suspension.

yeah agree here and the suspension was a pretty critical part of the design here too so played a huge role in everything else they could do .

Absolutely, the suspension is critical.!!!

After so many comments, videos etc I feel that some people dont undestand what AN was saying when "I did the suspension a bit here and there"
First of all after 18 years in RB AN legacy is not RB /18/19/20 his legacy stands in an organization that understand and act in every details of the car in particular aero, he dosent need (and would hate ) to desing a new vortex apendice for the floor, you have a lot of young , talented eng to do that.
But coming to His contributions to the suspension
It was very well known for decades the importance on "d" (the distance between the aero profil and the tarmac" in creating DF , we all know d=0 or d>x reduces DF we have seen infinite reseach papers about that.
What was the best solution ever created around this issue? Hidraulic active suspension !!!!(Baned some time later)
When AN says "I worked" in the suspension and some bits....." what he is not telling us what he has done!!!!
why RBR (Ricciardo) had the extraordinary 4 th place in MIA sprint?
do we remember the front suspension of the RBR is now the R9 19 one?
Look at any fast qualy lap from Max and check how much his car moves , (pitch , Heave , rolls etc) nothing at all!!!!!
why almost everybody were porposing by 2022 and RB did not?
And now tell me that AN contribution is "low" due there is a big team of engenieers
That important and valuable team needs some "Technical Direction" and this is (was) AN at it best !!!!

[Andi76]

I'm sorry to say this but it's simply not true. Newey himself admits in several interviews that his contribution to the current ground effect cars was minimal. On the RB18, the first of these cars, he says he "only" took care of the suspension. It was the media that always played up Newey's role and hyped him as the great, ingenious creator of the concept of the RB18-20, the complex underbody and practically everything about these cars (even more than before), something that Newey always made clear was wrong. But the media never cared. Newey has not been primarily involved in F1 cars for almost 10 years (as he has said himself several times), but divides his work between hypercars, sailing yachts and F1 and no longer works so much but spends a lot of time in South Africa.

That is a pure lie, Newey never said that.
Show link where he said that?
Some members at this site constantly discredit Newey work.

Newey is chief technical officer and he set fundamental concepts of car in every set of regulations.
He is responsible if car is fast or slow(assuming the engine is good), because he must choose course in witch direction his technical team "is sailing".
If car is slow, CEO of team fires chief, not engineers.
Once when you have correct car concept, after that is evolution.
If the car has the wrong concept, then it is very likely that it will remain so until the next set of regulations, that is reason why Mercedes struggling so much.

Here is example where Newey said how 2020 car comes directly from his drawing board, at 49:16.
The same applies from the new set of regulations for 2022.

Sorry to disappoint you, it's not a lie.Why would anyone lie about something like that? I'm certainly not going to go to the trouble of looking for a two-year-old interview with him just because you've mentioned something that's been mentioned several times in this forum, along with many other F1 media, such as here

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... wEwjYLWe0l

https://www.the-race.com/formula-1/mark ... l-f1-cars/

oder hier

https://www.motorlat.com/notas/f1/25076 ... egulations
genau wie hier

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/red-b ... 6/5325026/

oder hier

https://www.nextgen-auto.com/en/formula ... 42106.html

https://www.f1i.com/news/581-neweys-red ... 0.html/amp

and has been mentioned often enough by many Red Bull people and is no secret at all.

So before you accuse other people of lying in the future, you should perhaps inform yourself a little first.

[Andi76]

That’s not what he said there, he said ‘bits’ and the majority came from the other technicians.

It is well known what the role of the Chief Technical Officer is.

If you think that the CTO draws the car, or "makes" the concept, you don't know what a CTO actually does. Absolutely not. Sorry. And Newey is also not a classic CTO, as pretty much everyone knows, because a prerequisite was that he can work on things outside F1 (yachts, hypercars) and can decide how much he wants to invest. Please find out first what a CTO does in F1, and what Newey has been doing for the last 10 years at Red Bull and wanted in his contracts. No secrets, he has said it himself publicly often enough. A simple Google search will help. And you should first listen carefully to the interview you posted... he doesn't say what you claim, but actually something completely different and exactly what i said.

You also don't seem to have bothered to read my post to the end, where I explain why and how people like Adrian Newey or Rory Byrne can make a difference, despite reduced involvement, and why they are or can be so valuable (provided you listen to them, which unfortunately is not always the case in a consultancy job, but Newey hasn't had one so far).

[hollus]

Guys, tone it down. Accusing each other of lying is not going to help the conversation.

As usual, attack the post, not the poster (or even better, don't attack, but that it just me).

[Seanspeed]

Specifically, on this car [the RB18] I did the front and rear suspension and a few other bits and pieces. From an exclusive article in 2022 on The Race.

in this article write that he didnt do even research, that is not correct, journalist write nonsense..



Adrian Newey said:

" I’ve been at it for a long time now, 2021 was a really busy year because of the tight battle with Mercedes through the championship and, at the same time, putting all the research and development into the [RB]18, which was the father of this generation of cars.
There comes a point I think where I just felt, as Forrest Gump said, ‘a little bit tired."




https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... PtlvFQA0Uy

And note he says I, not we. HE was tired. It means he was clearly working very hard on things and certainly wouldn't be doing so if the things he was working on weren't critically important.

Just because he's not penning every detail of the car anymore doesn't mean he isn't still an instrumental factor in Red Bull's success.

And I have no doubt that Newey has helped build a very competent technical team at Red Bull that will not just immediately fall apart without him. Mclaren were still very competitive in 2007 and 2008 even after Newey's direct influence on the designs wasn't there anymore, for instance. Similarly, Newey is not somebody who will just immediately transform any team he joins. He especially seems to be very demanding in regards to packaging requirements, and that might well require a year or more for a team to really adjust to Newey's demands/recommendations in this area so that his overall philosophy can be achieved. And might be a good reason he wouldn't want to join a non-full works team.

[Watto]

in this article write that he didnt do even research, that is not correct, journalist write nonsense..

Fluido, people are giving you detailed explanations, yet you are reading something else into them that you want to. It's not nice to acuse others of lying just because you want to believe something else, you'll get fewer and fewer quality responses over time. Not just on this thread, but everywhere on the forum

Newey has not been actively designing and overviewing the whole design of the whole car for years. With his experience, there is no need to. People simply filter out the most critical details for him and his input is probably always the best solution, saving them valuable time and development costs.

The most important thing is to set performance targets during development. Making CAD models, analysing CFD/WT results and making inputs for performance and laptime simulations is absolutely not the best use of his time, which also has a huge hourly price Once you set the right targets and methodologies to check downforce, drag, torques and balance of the car across a wide range of car attitudes, aero development is a creative but far more straightforward process.

Absolutely no person on this forum thinks Newey is overrated, not that important, etc, so there is no excuse to acuse anyone of such things

I think this is probably a very good view on Neweys role at RB in recent ties and why Horner refered to him as a bit of a butterfly (iirc)

The suspension was probably the core element he probably worked on by his own works but think he as you said played a role in being a filter and setting the direction of things without being the lead designer. His fingerprints would still be all over the RB20 (and likely the RB21 too) without being the lead designer - by now though (and think we can hear it enough in the podcast with EJ and DC with Adrian) he has the team setup where he likely doesn't need to be around much.Actually think thats why he has been at RB for so long if he felt burnt out I think he had enough freedom to move arounds.

To an extent too I think you can see why Horner might see we need to get the technical/engineering dept to work without him as much as that is possible.