Adrian Newey Exclusive: Why I Quit Red Bull & My Future at Aston Martin

Adrian Newey is a legendary Formula 1 car designer, widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in motorsport engineering. With a career spanning multiple decades, Adrian has played a key role in designing championship-winning cars for teams like Red Bull Racing, McLaren, and Williams. His expertise and innovative approach have shaped the way modern F1 cars are built, making him an iconic figure in the sport.

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In this episode, Jake and Damian sit down with Adrian Newey for an exclusive discussion about his latest career move and what the future holds. Adrian opens up about the big decision behind joining a new team and what ultimately convinced him it was the right choice.

He reflects on how his mindset has changed since his early days with Red Bull, the evolution of his design approach, and the excitement of taking on new challenges with fresh perspectives.
Adrian also shares insights into the RB19 car, highlighting the features he's most proud of, and emphasises the importance of fostering a culture of humility and continuous learning.

This episode offers practical tips on overcoming challenges, moving forward from failure and staying focused on the future.

0:00 Introduction
0:42 How Refreshed Are You?
2:58 Why Aston Martin?
9:25 Winning With Aston Martin
16:47 Going Stale At Red Bull
17:42 Building The RB19
27:52 Proudest Moment
30:58 Vettel VS Webber
35:55 "The Man Who Can See Air"
41:57 RB19 Design Elements
47:27 Sketching An F1 Car
52:45 Dealing With F1 Drama
54:35 Ayrton Senna
59:33 Taking Risks
1:05:21 Verstappen Silverstone Crash
1:06:22 Favourite F1 Driver?
1:08:36 Max Verstappen Cracking?
1:14:29 Abu Dhabi 2021
1:16:51 Looking Forward
1:18:42 The Dream
1:21:06 Personal Costs
1:23:23 Quick-Fire Questions

#HighPerformance #AdrianNewey #RedBull #AstonMartin

[sniktun]

You can just see why he's been so successful. He's driven purely by challenge, once he's achieved the goal of being the best - he gets bored and wants a new challenge. Continual professional development, the keystone of an excellent engineer.

[TheChrisMayes]

I was very lucky to meet Adrian Newey at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2008 or 2009 when I was studying Motorsports Performance and Engineering at college.

Even amongst a crowd of easily 100-200 including celebs/drivers on the busiest day crowding round the Red Bull area (with Simon Cowell and his guards trying to push through us peasants), he took the time to talk to me for a few minutes about me, my course, the sport and current motorsports affairs. Even signed my Goodwood Programme. What a humble, legendary and pleasant chap. We need more people in the world like Mr. Newey!

[MeltingRubberZ]

Oh man. Footage of him drawing while talking about his design philosophy. Gold.

[MA-yssl]

This is the best Adrian Newey’s interview ever. Most people mostly talk about Adrian a little bit, but most of the iv will be about drivers. Asking Adrian about the technical stuff is what Adrian is good about

[sportsfanivosevic]

Walking away from a problem and having the solution appear when you are relaxed is something we should all do more often, because it works.

[christianbarstad]

newey is the type of guy, when he speak, you listen

[daboys]

if you haven't read Newey book, "How to build a race car" and you enjoyed this interview you should, I am not the biggest reader but literally couldn't put it down!

[saahirkhan]

The stand out for me is Adrian's character. As an engineer myself, I can truly appreciate what it means to be humble in the field to the outside world it seems very complex but for those of us in it, it's humbling to know there is so much that we don't know.

Listening to him speak, he exudes this - "I'm not a rock star" personality... "Perhaps I just have a feel for the behavior of the car" kind of attitude.

Most importantly, unlike many in the field he doesn't think he is the smartest in the room and likely is in most rooms he sits in. Huge respect for the man!

[ConicuAutomotive]

Adrian danced around some very touchy answers so well, I’ve got a new found appreciation for Adrian. Not his abilities as an Aerodynamicists, but his humility.

[hamza-chaudhry]

This man cost Fernando Alonso two world titles, but was able to see Fernando's brilliance in those years, fighting against much better machinery. It's almost poetic how they've joined forces 12 years later and could win together.

[WatchingtheWorldBurning]

I work as a skipper on yachts with large crew (say 20). He's right when he says culture can change in big teams by removing a handful of people. The entire atmosphere & performance on a yacht with 20 crew can change completely with one crew member change.

[KeshavChugh]

This man has been directly involved in 25 F1 world titles (12 drivers and 13 constructors). What an absolute legend.

[chrisc]

Newey is just so open and straightforward. What a fantastic interview of such an inspirational person.

[ionutalex]

The fact that even me, with a very limited knowledge in physics, was able to fully understand the explanation of the side profile design provided at 48:00 left me shocked. Before the regulation changes of 2022 I watched a lot of channels where they explained the designs, but could barley understand a few things here in there. This man, made it clear all clear for me in only 2 minutes. No wonder he was able to inspire and grow confidence in all organisations he's been part of.

[lPWNBLACKOPS]

Nice that Newey does an interview himself immediatly when the news broke. Rather listen to him explain why he joined than the waffle of f1 journalists.

[MarketingBusinessEconomics]

What a privilege to hear the man at the top of his game explain how the design competition works in F1.

[DirtyJokesFan]

Firstly, letting your guests speak with minimal interruption is highly appreciated.
The Honours’ System in the UK has yet to knight Newey for services to motorsport. He’s earned it.

[db]

His humility exudes, what a lovely man, so many high profile people could learn that from him

[captaincondescending]

This might the best interview I've seen in the world of F1, nevermind my favourite episode you've done of this podcast. A fascinating guy and so great to hear him be so open. Amazing job by you both for asking the right questions in the right way so we could get the honest thoughts of someone so inspiring.

[alicekoppenol-pitti]

I feel a lollipop man coming up.

Lance : Can we have Adrian....