25. Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey, Oracle Red Bull Racing’s Chief Technical Officer, has won 11 Formula One Constructors’ Titles and propelled some of the world’s most famous racers to the Drivers’ Championship.

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After studying aeronautics at Southampton University and early stints with the Fittipaldi and March F1 Teams, Newey first tasted success across the Atlantic. His March sports car design won IMSA’s GTP class in 1983 and 1984, and his IndyCar project, the March 85C, won the CART Championship and the Indy 500. The follow-up 86C won the CART title in 1986 and the Indy 500 in both ’86 and ’87, but F1 was calling, and after brief tenures with FORCE and March, Newey was, by 1990, at Williams.

In partnership with Patrick Head, Newey brought home five Constructors’ titles supplying the ammunition that also allowed Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve to win the Drivers’ Championship. He then rounded off the decade with the 1998 Constructors’ title and two Drivers’ crowns for Mika Häkkinen for McLaren.

Adrian was hired by Red Bull Racing in 2006 to elevate us to a similar level of competitiveness. The challenge was his toughest: previous Teams had championship pedigree before his tenure; Red Bull Racing did not. Adrian designed the cars… but also the Team around them. A regulatory reboot for 2009 provided an opportunity for Red Bull Racing. Sweeping aerodynamic rule changes presented designers with a blank canvas. The RB5 delivered six victories, proving an excellent platform to build. The following year, with nine wins, the RB6 took the Team’s first Constructors’ title and, with Sebastian Vettel at the wheel, also brought home the Drivers’ title, a feat matched by the RB7, RB8 and RB9 that followed.

At the end of 2014, Adrian took a step back from the day-to-day running of technical matters, taking a more expansive role with Red Bull Advanced Technologies and indulging his passions beyond F1. His engineering flair was applied everywhere, from America’s Cup to the Aston Martin Valkyrie, our first road car project. Adrian continues to have an enormous influence over Red Bull F1 car design and is often seen prowling the grid with the notebook in hand.

In the current V6 engine era, his cars had been held back by the performance of the Renault and Honda power units. However, all of them except the RB11 (2015) won at least two Grands Prix, with the RB10, RB12 and RB16 taking second place in 2014, 2016, 2020 and 2021 Constructors’ Championships. However, his RB16B design won the Drivers’ Championship in 2021.

In 2022 the Red Bull RB18 proved to be a strong contender and gave driver Max Verstappen his second World Drivers’ Championship at the 2022 Japanese Grand Prix and delivered the Red Bull team the 2022 Constructors’ Championship.