How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer

by Adrian Newey

I didn’t want to do that. Just the pride talking here: after all I’d designed it;

We’re used to having absolute dominion over our machines, but not me over this one: the FW15 had

After all, it’s actually relatively easy to drive a Formula One car. Throttle, Green, Green, Amber. Change. Brake, turn the wheel, point it at a corner, accelerate. Simple. It’s like an arcade game. The challenge is doing it faster than everybody else without losing control. That is an entirely different level.

The problem was that I shared traits inherited from both my mother and my father. My mum was vivacious and often flirtatious, a very good artist but mostly a natural-born maverick; my dad was an eccentric, a veterinarian Caractacus Potts, blessed or maybe cursed with a compulsion to think outside the box. No doubt it’s an equation that has served me well in later life, but it’s not best-suited to school life.

One thing I learnt from almost flunking those exams was that distraction is the enemy of performance:

To make a racing car accelerate and achieve a higher top speed you need more power, less weight and less aerodynamic drag.

Downforce is what we call the pressure that pushes the car downwards, effectively suckering it to the track.

It was an innovation that today we’d call a ‘disruptive technology’, a game-changer that pushed aerodynamics firmly to the forefront of racing car design.

Johnny was a cheerful, curly-haired Venezuelan; a real character. He was already a world champion in motorcycle racing, but after some distressing accidents had moved into racing cars. His plan was to prove himself in Formula Two with the aim of progressing into Formula One. That being the case, taking on an inexperienced race engineer was something of a gamble.

But Johnny went on to take pole and win the race, something I will guiltily admit was a hugely satisfying result, given the reflected glow for yours truly, and one that perhaps went some way to repaying Johnny’s trust in adopting me.

And though Corrado won, Johnny’s second place in the championship earned him a spot in Formula One for the following season. With all that going on, I was also having fun at the drawing board during the week.

I’ve been fortunate enough to develop strong bonds with a few drivers over the years, but it was Bobby who first taught me how valuable that close relationship between race engineer and driver can be. He was able to describe what the car was doing in a language I could then translate into set-up changes.

If there’s one thing I hope to be remembered for it’s that the cars I’ve been overall responsible for look cohesive.

Gilles Villeneuve, for example, was a master of the controlled slide – ‘power slides’ they’re sometimes called – and could drive sideways all day. He won the adoration of fans as a result.

After all, other than driver feedback all you had in those days was your own experience, instinct and … THE WIND TUNNEL

The grandstand alone has a capacity of upwards of a quarter of a million, with in-field seating raising the attendance to about 400,000 on race day – making it the most-attended single day of sport anywhere on earth.

The ‘spin and win’, it’s called. It’s one of the most dramatic moments in IndyCar history

Tragically I was to learn how it felt the hard way. I’ve had one driver die in a car I’ve designed. Ayrton.

The chassis constructor is responsible for two aspects of safety, first, trying to avoid a car component failure. Clearly if a suspension member breaks or a wing falls off at the wrong point of the circuit, the car’s going to have an accident, and if that happens it is because somebody on the team has made a mistake. It could be in the design, manufacturing, lack of inspection; it could be a mechanic forgetting to do a bolt up. There is a clause in the FIA regulations warning against unsafe construction design, but the onus is on the teams to do everything we can to put systems in place to eliminate the possibility of human error. The second aspect of safety is what happens once the accident starts and the car hits whatever it hits; usually a wall, barrier or another car. How does it withstand the impact?

It’s a horrible position to be in. Taking that decision away from the designer is one of the best things to happen to the sport.

Charlotte was born on 28 August 1986. I’m not sure I’ve ever told her this – I suppose this is as good a time as any – but she’s named after that first win at Charlotte in 1983.

Even attempting this was ambitious to the point of arrogance, but what the hell: I was young and keen to make my mark in Formula One.

The car would be the Leyton House 881. In terms of providing a template for future designs, it was probably the most important of my career.

That cover. Being at the sharp end of the timesheets. Attracting press attention. It felt like all our hard work – and there was an awful lot of hard work on that car – was paying off. Question was: how would it race?

A reliability problem forced Maurício to retire while in third, but Ivan was still leading the French Grand Prix. From not qualifying in the previous race, he had gone to now leading most of the next one, probably the biggest transformation in performance in Formula One history.

One of the most dramatic pieces of on-board footage ever is Ayrton Senna’s qualifying lap in a McLaren Honda at Monaco in 1990. Watch it and you’ll see that he hardly ever has both hands on the steering wheel. He’s constantly changing up and down while manhandling the car with his left arm.

It was also the first example of a philosophy I’ve since tried to continue with throughout my career: if you can come up with a decent concept then develop it year after year until either the regulations change or you realise that it was the wrong route. That, for me, is the most fruitful way to work.

Evolution is often the key once the spark of a good direction has been set.

Nigel wasn’t like that. He was an attack dog in the car. When he drove it, you knew it was being bullied into submission. You knew he was giving his best when he was out in it.

Montreal I remember clearly. Particularly the satisfaction of producing a car that had qualified on pole for the first time in my Formula One career. We went into the race hopeful that we’d got on top of the gearbox problems, and Nigel dominated, to the point that he was almost a lap in the lead by the end of the race.

Just as I hate it when drivers forget that they are an employee and start blaming the team when things go wrong, the reverse is also true: you’re a team. You stick together.

It was to occur many more times in my career and, as I was to learn, the Finnish drivers such as Häkkinen and Räikkönen are specialists at it.

And that was it. After coming close a few times, finally that first elusive Grand Prix victory. It was a very special day. I can still remember the feeling of elation walking through the airport to board the plane home.

How Damon felt I’m not sure, but I do think it speaks volumes about his strength of character. He had lost his father, Graham, to a racing-related accident; now he was being promoted to team leader as a result of the death of his teammate. Rather than being intimidated or haunted, he became one of the major motivating forces of the team.

Is it really worth people dying in the name of sport?

The sadness and sense of waste.

‘If you ever want to join McLaren there’s a place for you,’ he concluded, before adding, as we were about to go our separate ways, ‘but please be aware we don’t pay superstar salaries.’

It worked and we came up with what became the definitive seating position that goes on to this day.