63. Adrian Newey

Adrian Newey, OBE (born 26 December 1958) is a British Formula One engineer. He is currently the chief technical officer of the Red Bull Racing Formula One team.

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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.

There, 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. Comprehensive aerodynamic rule changes presented designers with a blank canvas. The RB5 delivered six victories, proving to be an excellent platform on which to build. The next 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 wider 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 our F1 car design and is often to be seen prowling the grid with a notebook in hand.

While our designs are a huge collective effort in the modern era, every Red Bull Racing car still contains Adrian’s distinctive philosophies and insight. With another huge aerodynamic shakeup looming large on the horizon, those skills have never been more highly prized.