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Newey recalls: “In fact, the problem was a fuel leak, I’m glad to say. At one race Christian Danner wrongly believed his car hadn’t been given enough fuel. Here, not for the first time, for the first time, he was asked to leave. The car was not a great success and by 1981 Newey had joined March as a race engineer. His first job was at Fittipaldi Automotive as Chief Aerodynamicist on the F8 of 1980. Newey finished university with a first class honours degree, having written thesis on ground-effect aerodynamics.
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The 1980’s – From F1 to Sportscar racing to F1 again via the Indy 500 This was enough for him to get a place at University of Southampton to study Aeronautics and Astronautics (a Newey designed spaceship anyone?). There he gained a National Diploma in engineering. As a teenager Newey attended the historic Repton public school (at the same time as Jeremy Clarkson) but was asked to leave after he high-jacked a school concert soundcheck and blew out a stained glass window.įrom his Repton expulsion Newey headed to college in Leamington-Spa, in the Midlands region of England. Our story of Adrian Newey’s career does not start with a hiring but instead a firm request for his immediate departure.
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From late 2014 onwards Newey will focus on ‘other projects’ within the Red Bull operation, and will only have a consultancy role in the creation of future Red Bull grand prix racing cars.Īdrian Newey has been designing cars since 1983 and the following article looks back at each of them, but you first have to look at the early days of his career.Įven with his apparent step back from day to day design work in Formula 1 most Formula 1 teams still dream of hiring him, indeed for most of them it seems inconceivable that you would even think about firing him but but during Newey’s long and fascinating career he has been, expelled, asked to leave and outright fired. But this new contract was really the end of the Englishman’s career as a designer of racing cars. In the summer of 2014 Adrian Newey signed a new contract with Red Bull Technology ending rumours of him switching to the troubled Ferrari team.
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