Adrian Newey isn’t a genius – but only because overuse of the word reduces the wiggle room required should you ever wish to debate the merits of Leo da Vinci, Wolfie Mozart or Bertie Einstein. He is, however, outstandingly brilliant in his field: the most successful designer in Formula 1’s history – though I’d argue that Lotus’s Colin Chapman was more inspired and inspiring.
Since Newey shoehorned Ivan Capelli and Mauricio Gugelmin into the shrink-wrapped cockpits of his Bugatti-blue Marches of the late 1980s, F1 has marched to his wind tunnels’ thrum. He smiles thinly, thinks deeply; sketches thoughtfully, draws 1:1; and oversees the macro while managing the micro. Function is king in F1, yet he has sufficient spare capacity to respect form: his output has in the main been more handsome than his rivals’ too.
And his thorough appreciation of F1’s history and regular impacts on its present gives his prognosis of it gritty gravitas: he’s concerned that engines will become the deciding performance factor when the 1.6-litre V6 turbos are introduced in 2014, that one manufacturer’s mill will gain an unbridgeable advantage.
Well, tough. He’s had his fun.
Downforce has held F1 in its unseen grip since 1968 – except for the brief period when Gordon Murray designed the simplest F1 car of the modern generation: the beautiful, flat-bottomed Brabham BT52/B dart that Nelson Piquet pointed and squirted to the 1983 world title.
That brief return to a surfeit of power – 1000+bhp in qualifying trim – over grip is my favourite period of modern F1, a harking back to the pre-war Silver Arrows, those new-era metallurgical marvels on their Stone Age canvas tyres.
The next generation of F1 turbo, with its Green eye, will be far removed from the wick-em-up-chuck-‘em-away Q-bombs of the 1980s, and as such will provide a much-needed and welcome change in techno and eco outlook, plus 750bhp when their energy-recovery systems – both Kinetic and Thermal – make hay with their harvested grunt.
Newey no doubt sees this wider picture. It would be remiss of him, however, not to protect his patch. Say he gets a concession for a bigger front wing from this then his ‘work’ here might be done.
He’s not alone. Mercedes-Benz motorsport boss Norbert Haug can also see the wider picture, and no doubt appears more chilled about it because he feels that his engineers are ahead of the next game. In contrast to Merc’s, Red Bull’s Renault KERS has been hit-and-miss –perhaps because of the stricturous packaging enforced on it by Newey, never the system’s strongest advocate.
His ‘warning’ reminds me of the furore surrounding the introduction of the 1.5-litre F1 in 1961. The Brits grizzled about it for years in advance, then ran their concurrent, half-cocked Intercontinental Plan B – until V8s from BRM and Coventry Climax gave them the power parity their superior F1 chassis’ required. Then everything was hunky-dory, thank you – until the 3-litre F1 was introduced in 1966.
The mood was the same, albeit underscored by a longer-term plan courtesy of Messrs Ecclestone and Mosley, when FOCA ran its DFV-only 1981 South African GP. Its result was subsequently erased from the record book, but it did its trick: the first Concorde Agreement was signed the next month. The remainder of the revolution, however, was then put on hold while the teams went about their core business (mainly with turbo power) because that’s the bit that’s televised. At some point you just have to get on with it.
Last year’s switch from the proposed four-cylinders with a 12,000rpm limit to V6s revving to 15,000, plus a year’s relaxing of the deadline, means that the compromises have been made. Now is the time to close the stable door before the horse trading bolts again.
Don’t tell me what’s wrong with the new formula. Instead outline its ‘problems’ and your solutions. Fascinate me rather than infuriate me. For I have never been more impatient to see the next Newey design.
And surely I can’t be the only one excited by a change of regulations. The engines will be cutting edge, as compact and as tightly packaged as the regulations allow, and in theory have a broader usable range for racing and sufficient decibels and turbo whistles to provide the tingle factor. Yes, it might take a year for the new order to settle down, and Mercedes-Benz might build another stromlinienwagen or Ferrari another ‘Shark Nose’ before going on to dominate, but statistics strongly suggest that Newey’s dynamic aero, especially when combined with Renault motivation, will be a short-odds long-term bet for success. If indeed it takes that long.
Mr Newey, you are a hard man to ignore, but on this occasion and topic I am deaf to you.
Two more things: Chapman used to infuriate Cosworth’s Keith Duckworth with design sketches that included a skew-whiff box that had the word ‘engine’ jotted within; and it was Duckworth, no fan of turbos, who 30 years ago proposed the introduction of a fuel-flow formula, an idea that will come to fruition in 2014.
Geniuses. Almost.
Couldn’t agree with you more Paul. Can’t blame Newey for protecting his pay packet and budget but I’ll be glad to see the end of the “aero” era in F1. An expensive technical development path which benefited the auto industry zilch and made for some of the most challenging to race vehicles any F1 driver has ever chauffeured. I especially enjoyed Newey’s warning that some engines might have an advantage over others! How is that different from some cars having superior aero to others. I thought that was what racing was about, having a better car than the competition.
I can’t help thinking that this will be far from the end of the “aero era”, unless aero surfaces are regulated right out of the equation, or that the engines will stay at 750hp for very long either for that matter. Smaller engines with better packaging, and potentially more power giving more speed through the air or downforce as per requirements – sounds like Newey’s stock in trade…
There will undoubtedly be a disparity in performance between engines at first, and i’m curious to see how long budgetary restraints last in the war to catch up with the best, or how many manufacturers stick around if that happens.
Thanks for picturing three of F1′s finest looking cars too! (No, i don’t mean the Brabham). Always thought the ’88 March was a looker.
Always enjoy reading Mr. Fearnley’s contributions. I do hope that aero’s influence in the next formula is reduced. Racing is more interesting to watch, and brings out the best in the drivers, when the power is greater than the chassis can fully handle.
There is no way emphasis on aero is going to go away – I very much doubt it’ll even be reduced at all, whatever the intent of the new regs. The engines will shake things up for a year or two, perhaps, but anyone expecting a new style/era of car is going to be disappointed.
On the subject of car design, saw a pic of the cutaway Sauber F1 car today (in a rival mag, a weekly that incidentally seems to be morphing into MS – last week an issue devoted to ’82, this week one devoted to Gr C) which brought home to me the absurdity of driving positions in F1 – bum on the floor and feet in the air like some kind of S&M dungeon stress position. Why not reduce aero by, say, demanding that a driver’s heels should be no higher off the floor than his bum, with the bonus that the machine returns to being more identifiable as a car, rather than a one-man, engined bobsleigh? And, with people everywhere getting taller, generation by generation, let’s get away from the ‘jockey’ model – stipulate that every car must be designed to accommodate a six-footer, at least, and that the driver-helmet-HANS-seat package should weigh no less than 110kg (ballast to be added to the seat if drivers are underweight) – let’s allow people of average height/build behind the wheel. Honest, how long before Newey or someone similar gets the idea that Warwick Davies might be better for the package than MW?
Agreed Rich, one of the reasons I like US Sprint car racing so much. 800 bhp in a chassis that weighs 1200 lbs….on dirt. No aero at all. Can you say “right foot steering”?
…and yes Hamfan, that other weekly is trying very hard to be MS….They say it’s a form of flattery. I used to subscribe to that rag for 25+ years, but my favorite pen went to MS and I’ll be here forever!
Hamfan has a point, but it’s not about aero, it’s about the fact that in a modern F1 car, the driver cannot see the front wing. I feel this is one reason why there are so many damaged wings and reluctance to have close racing in F1 these days. Most F1 drivers have the physiques of jockeys, and this may be due to a small size being a huge advantage from karting.
Newey has always been ahead of the curve in both cars and boats. One exception was Senna’s Williams.
Aero formulas kill racing, they kill any practical application to road cars. I treat aero like active suspension, TC and ABS..good bye and good riddance.
Love it, Dave! “When in doubt, gas it!”
Engine revs mandated by the rulebook, and they still call it motor racing? With so many regulations and gimmicks, it’s not quite a competition.
interesting Paul, very interesting, firstly Chapman was a man who knew how to harness genius and yes that is a misused term these days and Colin – all pain- but oh so motivating was very close to that title,
secondly, engines, i love them! i adore the sounds of a 3ltr V8 cossie, a V12, Matra or even a H16 BRM- and then the mad turbos were just awesome – although there was a time i felt light-headed when they went past you, does make you wonder what fueled them at times, but the sheer awesome grunt and how a driver had to manage that power, real motor racing skills, Spa and Estoril 1985 – anyway -
thirdly – Paul I have a problem with the engine formula of the past x years and have argued that the engine formula needs to be an ‘open’ formula but restricted to the amount of fuel and its efficiency, so if Merc’s feel a V8 5ltr would produce the power and efficiency needed to meet the fuel limits they do so, if Honda say no, a 1ltr triple trubo’s supercharged V6 will be the answer then go for it, but that’s a dream, as for being ‘green’ um, so many fly-away races kinda dispells that doesn’t it..
fourthly- aero- yes you’re quite right Ham, when i look at this season’s car and how ugly it is with all its bits and pieces attached, that will not change
fifth, Nigel’s previous mag has gone rapidly downhill, and i won’t be renewing my subscription next year, and i have 50 years of their mags, however whilst i still breathe MS will always be bought
I hope that aero will take a “backseat,” perhaps if the FIA listened a bit more to Gordon Murray’s ideas (a true genius also), F1 would go that way. I also like the new engine formula, but I’d not set rev limits, but simply ban pneumatic valves (accomplishing the same thing a better way). I’d also open up KERS to whatever can be achieved, not restricted.
Thank you John Saviano for mentioning Gordon Murray, surely the true design guru and genius – now sadly lost to F1. I have just watched a recent BBC4 documentary about the man online and of course the article in the latest MS regarding his thoughts on the future of F1 – this man should replace the short bloke and run the show, then we could have real racing again. Mr Newey is of course razor sharpo and incredibly talented, but Mr Murray is a visionary.
yes, I’ve always had a lot of time for Gordon Murray – his designs were some of the most innovative and cleverly thought out racing cars ever. I especially liked the mid-70s Brabhams. Thinking like that went south thanks to the bloody rule-book.
I like the idea of the free engine formula with only economy to worry about. When F1 lost the V12s and then the V10s, it died a little inside me as well.
I only hope I’ll live long enough to see what happens to F1 once the ‘little man’ croaks.
Geez Rich, the places I run into you! You must be loving this season right now.
Do you know the whole thing , Formula One , which I have loved for more than fifty years , since childhood , now leaves more totally bored . It is so contrived and so removed from the great sport that had me entralled that I haven’t bothered to watch for the last couple of months . It’s all a joke . 2014 will be the nail in it’s coffin as far as I’m concearned .
Jim, good to see you here. I’m enjoying Alonso’s efforts for the Scuderia, but I find current “F1″ near impossible to enjoy from an aesthetic point of view anymore. The cars look and sound hideous, and motor around on mostly sterile tracks that are more and more often in places that have little or no racing history.
I am enjoying the dawn of the WEC however, and look forward to it growing in strength. Maybe Luca will tell BCE to get stuffed, and take the Scuderia over to a more interesting series…