Adrian Martin Newey was born on December 26, 1958. He is a British engineer, aerodynamics expert, car designer, and motorsport leader. Since 2026, Newey has worked as team leader, head engineer, and co-owner of Aston Martin in Formula One. Before this, he was head engineer for Leyton House and McLaren, lead designer for March and Williams, and chief technical officer for Red Bull Racing. Newey is widely known as one of the most talented engineers in Formula One history. His car designs have earned 14 Drivers' Championships, 12 Constructors' Championships, and 223 Grand Prix victories from 1991 to 2024.

After creating championship-winning cars for Williams and McLaren, Newey joined Red Bull in 2006. His cars won the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships from 2010 to 2013, the Drivers' Championship in 2021, and both titles in 2022 and 2023. The RB19 car, designed by Newey, is the most successful Formula One car in history, winning 21 of 22 races (95.45%) it competed in. Newey’s designs also won the 1985 and 1986 CART Championships. On May 1, 2024, Red Bull Racing announced that Newey would stop working on Formula One car designs and focus on the RB17 hypercar. Newey left Red Bull in the first quarter of 2025 and began working at Aston Martin. He is still helping with the RB17 hypercar project, including its final design.

Early life and career

Adrian Martin Newey was born on December 26, 1958, in Colchester, Essex, England. He is the son of Richard Newey, a veterinarian, and Edwina Newey, who worked as an ambulance driver during the Second World War. Newey attended Repton Public School, where he studied alongside Jeremy Clarkson, a well-known motoring journalist and writer. At age 16, Newey was expelled from Repton after increasing the sound levels at a concert held in the school’s 19th-century Pears School Building. This action caused the building’s stained glass windows to crack.

Newey earned a top degree in Aeronautical Engineering from the University of Southampton in 1980. Right after graduating, he began working in motorsport for the Fittipaldi Formula One team under Harvey Postlethwaite. In 1981, he joined the March team. After working as a race engineer for Johnny Cecotto in European Formula 2, Newey started designing racing cars. His first projects were the March 82G and 83G sports cars, which competed in the IMSA GT Championship. The March 83G was very successful and won the IMSA title in 1983 and 1984.

CART career

In 1984, Newey joined the March Indy car project. He worked as a designer and race engineer for Bobby Rahal at Truesports. Newey became good friends with Rahal, and this friendship affected their careers about fifteen years later. The March 85C car Newey designed won the 1985 CART championship when driven by Al Unser. It also won the 1985 Indianapolis 500 with Danny Sullivan as the driver. In 1986, Newey moved to Kraco to engineer Michael Andretti's car. Meanwhile, his March 86C design won the 1986 CART championship and the 1986 Indianapolis 500, with Bobby Rahal driving. At the end of 1986, Newey joined the Haas Lola Formula One team to help improve its performance. However, the team stopped operating after the 1986 season ended. In 1987, Newey worked at Newman-Haas as Mario Andretti's race engineer. Later, he was hired again by March, this time to serve as chief designer in Formula One.

Formula One career

Adrian Newey's first Formula One car design was the 1988 March 881. Many people were surprised by how competitive this car was. Ivan Capelli finished second in Portugal, and briefly led the 1988 Japanese Grand Prix before being passed by Alain Prost's McLaren-Honda car. In 1990, the team changed its name to Leyton House Racing, and Newey was promoted to the role of technical director. At the 1990 French Grand Prix, Capelli led most of the race but finished second after being passed by Prost's Ferrari. This was the team's best performance that year, as results declined afterward. In the summer of 1990, Newey was fired, but he soon found another job. He later said, "I was fired, but I had already decided to leave because when a team is managed more by accountants than engineers, it's time to go. Your confidence may suffer, but Williams had already offered me a position."

During the 1980s and early 1990s, Williams was one of the top teams in Formula One. Patrick Head, the technical director, quickly signed Newey to a contract. With more money, better drivers, and more resources, Newey and Head became one of the most successful design teams of the early 1990s. By mid-1991, Newey's FW14 car was as strong as the previously dominant McLaren. However, early reliability issues and Ayrton Senna's performance prevented Williams' driver, Nigel Mansell, from winning the Drivers' title that year. In 1992, the team had no major problems. Mansell won the Drivers' title, and Newey earned his first Constructors' title. In 1993, Newey's team won another Constructors' title, with Alain Prost driving the FW15C.

In 1994, Newey's cars performed worse than usual. The team struggled to match the pace and reliability of the Benetton B194, designed by Rory Byrne. Tragedy struck at the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix when Ayrton Senna, who had joined Williams that year, died in an accident. A strong finish in the second half of the season, helped by a two-race ban for Michael Schumacher, allowed Williams to win their third straight Constructors' title. However, the team could not win a third consecutive Drivers' title. Problems arose in Newey's relationship with Williams management due to the investigation into Senna's accident.

By 1995, it was clear that Newey was ready to become a technical director again. However, Patrick Head, who co-founded Williams, blocked his return. Losing both the Drivers' and Constructors' titles to Benetton in 1995 made Newey's relationship with Williams even more strained. By 1996, when Damon Hill and Jacques Villeneuve won both titles, Newey was placed on gardening leave before joining McLaren. His time at Williams ended with his cars winning 59 race victories, 78 pole positions, and 60 fastest laps in 114 races from 1991 to 1997. During these years, four drivers won World Championship titles.

At McLaren, Newey could not influence the design of the 1997 car (the MP4/12). He had to work with the design by Neil Oatley and focus on the 1998 car. A win at the 1997 European Grand Prix helped McLaren start the off-season on a positive note. When racing resumed in 1998, the McLaren MP4/13 was the strongest car. Titles were won in 1998 and 1999 (with the MP4/14), and Mika Häkkinen nearly won a third Drivers' title in 2000.

In 2001, Newey signed a contract with the Jaguar F1 team, managed by his friend Bobby Rahal. However, McLaren's boss, Ron Dennis, convinced Newey to stay. Rahal later said the deal failed because his position at Jaguar was weakened by Niki Lauda and internal issues at Ford. Rahal was fired from Jaguar later that year.

Despite staying with McLaren, rumors continued that Newey wanted to leave. By late 2004, his future seemed uncertain as people speculated he might return to Williams or leave Formula One entirely. Although McLaren denied these rumors, stories about his potential departure spread during the 2004–2005 off-season. In April 2005, it was confirmed that Newey's contract with McLaren was extended by six months. He was expected to take a break or retire from Formula One design after the 2005 season. On July 19, 2005, Newey said, "This step can wait," and he would stay with McLaren for 2006.

In November 2005, Red Bull Racing announced that Newey would join the team in February 2006. It was reported that he would earn about $10 million a year, as McLaren refused to increase his salary. Newey had little influence over the design of the 2006 car (the RB2), and Red Bull struggled early in the season, scoring only two points in six races. However, David Coulthard, who had driven Newey-designed cars for Williams and McLaren, finished third and earned six points at the Monaco Grand Prix. By the end of the 2005 season, Red Bull showed signs of improvement, finishing seventh overall.

In 2007, Newey designed the RB3, which used the Renault RS26 engine. The car was fast but unreliable, with both drivers retiring seven times in 17 races. Despite this, Red Bull finished fifth in the 2007 Constructors' Championship. Newey and Geoff Willis, his fellow technical director, said the 2008 RB4 was the most complex car they had ever designed. The season started well, with Mark Webber earning points in five races and Coulthard claiming a podium at Montreal. By mid-season, Red Bull was competing for fourth place in the Constructors' Championship with Renault and Toyota. However, the team scored only five points in the second half of the season (compared to 24 in the first half), and Toro Rosso finished with more points than Red Bull.

In 2009, Newey designed the RB5, which marked a big improvement for the team. The

Death of Ayrton Senna

After Ayrton Senna died in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix, which involved a car designed by Newey, he and other Williams team members were charged with manslaughter. In December 1997, Newey was found not guilty. This decision was confirmed in November 1999. In January 2003, Italy's Supreme Court of Cassation reopened the case due to "material errors." Newey was fully acquitted in May 2005.

Other ventures

Newey is an enthusiastic collector and driver of sports cars. He has competed in the Le Mans Legend races for several years. In 2006, he crashed a Ford GT40 but only suffered a cut finger. Later, he crashed a Jaguar E-Type during the Goodwood Revival Meeting. In 2007, he joined modern racing by driving for the AF Corse Ferrari F430 team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He finished 22nd overall and 4th in his class with co-drivers Ben Aucott and Joe Macari.

On 15 June 2010, during a press conference at the Sony E3 Electronic Entertainment Expo, it was announced that Newey worked as the chief technical officer for the video game Gran Turismo 5 for the PlayStation 3. A game trailer showed Newey with race car driver Sebastian Vettel at the Red Bull Technology building in Great Britain, where they discussed the game with Kazunori Yamauchi, the CEO of Polyphony Digital and creator of the Gran Turismo series. Their collaboration led to the creation of concept cars, the Red Bull X2010 and Red Bull X2011, which appeared in the game.

On 2 July 2010, Newey received his own Red Bull RB5 car as a recognition of his achievements with Red Bull Racing since joining the team in 2007. He first drove the car at the 2010 Goodwood Festival of Speed. On 8 August 2010, he was involved in an accident while participating in the Ginetta G50 Cup at the Snetterton circuit as a guest driver. His car was hit from the side after being spun into the path of Tony Hughes. He was taken to the hospital for checks but did not suffer serious injuries. On 10 October 2018, Newey was named an advisory board member of the W Series, a racing championship for women based on Formula 3-homologated Tatuus T-318 chassis.

In addition to his work on the RB17 hypercar, Newey helped design the Aston Martin Valkyrie hybrid sports car during his time as Chief Technical Officer at Red Bull Racing, collaborating with Aston Martin and Red Bull Advanced Technologies. He also designed a submarine for Red Bull’s co-founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, as part of a personal project intended for use on Laucala Island, Mateschitz’s private island. Additionally, Newey worked on the design of a custom Oyster 885 Yacht Series II, created by Oyster Yachts to build his “dream bluewater sailing boat” with the goal of sailing around the world.

Personal life

Newey's first wife was Amanda, a nurse, and they had two daughters. They married in 1983 and separated in 1989. He married his second wife, Marigold, in 1992, and they separated in 2010. They had a daughter and a son named Harrison, who became a racing driver. Harrison won both the 2016–17 MRF Challenge Formula 2000 Championship and the 2017–18 Asian Le Mans Series. Newey has been married to Amanda "Mandy" Smerczak since August 2017. She is the daughter of South African actor Ron Smerczak.

Awards and honours

Chassis designed by Newey have won 12 World Constructors' Championships and 14 World Drivers' Championships, including four consecutive Constructors' titles from 2010 to 2013 with Red Bull. Newey has been involved in 40 car designs as a lead designer in Formula One. As of 2024, he has won 15 World Championships and 31 Grand Prix races. Because of his achievements and successful car designs, Newey is considered one of the greatest engineers in Formula One history. He is often called "the design genius" of Formula One, and some people believe he is the most successful designer ever.

Key: (Bold) Personal record; (*) constructor record; (†) Formula One record

• IMSA GT Championship: 1983, 1984 (as a designer)
• 24 Hours of Daytona: 1984 (as a designer)

• CART IndyCar World Series: 1985, 1986 (as a designer)
• Indianapolis 500: 1985, 1986 (as a designer)

• United Kingdom Officer of the Order of the British Empire (2012)

• Doctor of Science, University of Sussex (2013)
• Doctor of Engineering, Oxford Brookes University (2013)