Adrian Newey’s trophy cabinet boasts 12 Constructors’ Championships and 14 Drivers’ titles—no small feat, reflecting the success of the British engineer’s designs. But the 66-year-old hasn’t achieved victory solely through what he learned at university, in the wind tunnel, or behind a computer. Much of his success comes from thinking outside the box. Various individuals who’ve worked with him have shared stories of ideas that seemed borderline insane—yet turned out to be effective despite initial skepticism. It’s a way of thinking that mirrors his all-encompassing engineering vision and a mind that never stops pondering and building.
The latest testimony to this comes from Robert Doornbos, former test driver for Red Bull in 2006 and 2007, during Adrian Newey’s early years at Milton Keynes. “As a test driver, you’re a bit like a crash dummy. You have to test everything—from wing durability to flexibility—but if something goes wrong, you end up in the wall, and that’s it from the pit wall. Back then, testing hours were unlimited; I think I covered about 36,000 kilometers. One day, Adrian asked me what I thought about having one pedal placed above the other, to better exploit the aerodynamics. Obviously, that’s not allowed, but it reflects his way of thinking,” the Dutchman said on the podcast The Pit Talk.
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