Having a good driver in the cockpit is one thing for a team to achieve, in today's Formula 1 it is even more important to have a winning car on the grid. At Red Bull Racing, they look to one person for that aspect: Adrian Newey. The designer who was responsible for the winning cars of Williams and McLaren for years is now the person who helped the Bulls back to the top. However, Newey will leave Red Bull in 2025.

After a historically dominant F1 season for Red Bull in 2023, expectations are sky-high and it is up to Adrian Newey, among others, to fulfill those expectations. Team boss Christian Horner already admitted that it is unlikely that his team will be able to surpass the record year: not only because it will have to win even more races, but also because the competition was getting closer towards the end of the season.

McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari made big steps in the second half of 2023. However, it must be said that Red Bull already shifted its focus to the RB20 for the 2024 season in the summer. The expectation is that the Austrian team will start the new year with a lead again, but at the same time it seems that other F1 teams will increasingly develop their cars according to the philosophy of Red Bull and Newey. The 2024 F1 car is the last Red Bull F1 car that Newey will design as he will leave the team in 2025.

Adrian Newey's career in Formula 1 began in the 1980s. He quickly made his mark as the designer of the March GTP car and later the March 86C at the Indy 500. Moving to Formula 1 with the March team in 1988, Newey distinguished himself with the fast March 881. His path led him to Williams, where despite initial technical problems in 1991 he won a series of world titles starting in 1992.

The tragedy of Ayrton Senna's death in 1994 and missing out on the title in 1995 marked a difficult period for Newey at Williams. In his book How to Build a Car, Newey reflects on the fateful accident as "a bad piece of design that should never have been on the car," referring to the modified steering column that likely caused Senna's death. He moved to McLaren, where he was responsible for the design of the McLaren MP4/13 in 1998 and the MP4/14 in 1999, which won two drivers' titles for Mika Hakkinen and the constructors' title in 1998. Despite the success, Newey sensed a change coming and he eventually left McLaren in 2005.

Newey's move to Red Bull Racing in 2007 was initiated by Christian Horner and David Coulthard, who had worked with him for many years at McLaren. This led to a meeting with Helmut Marko, which heralded a new era. At Red Bull, a team that values both performance and fun, Newey played a crucial role in shaping the team and its successes in subsequent years.

Good luck with Sebastian Vettel, Max Verstappen and Honda

At Red Bull Racing, Adrian Newey initially struggled with unreliable cars, but in 2009 the RB5 brought the team success and a second place in the championship. From 2010 to 2013, the team dominated with Sebastian Vettel, who won four consecutive titles. Despite a disappointing 2014 season due to new engines and a disappointing 2015, the team found its way up in 2016. After this, it came closer to the top, helped by the switch from Renault to Honda engines and the arrival of Max Verstappen.

In 2021, the moment finally came for Red Bull: the RB16B could actually compete against the ever so all-powerful Mercedes. Towards the end of the season the German racing team gained the upper hand, but that turned out to be too late to win the drivers' world title. However, Red Bull had to miss out on the constructors' title, so the goal for 2022 was immediately clear: winning both world titles.

The team succeeded in this very convincingly, despite the relatively short time it had to develop the car for 2022. Newey's RB18 turned out to be a gem, although the car appeared at the start of the F1 season with a number of problems. Every update that the Austrian racing team introduced proved to be a step in the right direction and by the summer break it became clear that the team could no longer be beaten. Both world titles were secured early on.

Why Adrian Newey is considered by many to be the best technician Formula 1 has ever known, he demonstrated with his latest showpiece: the RB19. Especially with Max Verstappen behind the wheel, the car was absolutely merciless and simply impossible to keep up on the straight. An evolution of perhaps the best car ever, the RB20, can only instill fear in the competition about what will come in 2024.

As the most successful designer in Formula 1, Adrian Newey has built up quite a fortune over his long career. His fortune was estimated at around 50 million dollars in 2023, equivalent to more than 45 million euros.

There are currently no official figures on Adrian Newey's salary, but it is clear that Red Bull's CTO is not short of anything. In 2005, Christian Horner poached him from McLaren, where he had an annual salary of around 6 million dollars (5.5 million euros) at the time. According to The Guardian, Red Bull Racing was willing to pay the Brit 10 million dollars (about 9 million euros) annually.

Adrian Newey has been married to Amanda Newey (maiden name Smerczak) since 2017. Before this, he was married twice: from 1983 to 1989 and from 1992 to 2010.

Adrian Newey has four children. He has two daughters from his first marriage, Charlotte and Hannah. He also has two children from his second marriage: daughter Imogen and son Harrison. The latter is active as a racing driver.

Adrian Newey has written a book entitled How to Build a Car. The book was first published in November 2017 to critical acclaim. It is an autobiography in which Newey shares his personal and professional experiences in the motorsport world. It focuses on his career, from his early years in motorsport to his great successes in Formula 1 with teams such as Williams, McLaren and Red Bull Racing.

Newey reveals the technical and creative processes behind racing car design and offers insights into the complexities and challenges of Formula 1. The book also offers a unique perspective on both the triumphs and tragic moments of his career, making it an interesting read for both motorsport fans and enthusiasts of technical innovation.