Adrian Newey quizzed on Formula 1 legend he can see airflow

Aston Martin quizzed its recently-arrived F1 design icon Adrian Newey on whether it is true he can see air.

Admitting that it is difficult to answer because he cannot compare what he sees versus another person, Newey opened up on his artistic family roots, and how he feels this helped open new pathways in the mind.

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Newey has established his legacy as one of the greatest car designers Formula 1 has ever seen; his input has led to a total of 26 world championship wins.

No wonder then that there is great excitement surrounding Aston Martin, the team snapping up Newey’s services following his departure from Red Bull.

A classic F1 story that follows Newey is that, such are his talents and unique gift for designing racing cars, he can visualise airflow. But, is that an F1 urban myth, or is there some truth to the story?

Aston Martin attempted to get an answer from Newey, who was asked about it directly during an in-house interview, and to put us inside his mind to reveal what he sees which others cannot.

“I’m not sure anybody wants to be in my mind!” Newey quipped.

“It’s very difficult for me to say, because I’m not somebody else.

“What I see partly comes from practice, but perhaps also a little bit of genetics. I come from quite an artistic family, on both my father’s and mother’s side; I was always inquisitive and quite a good artist at school, and have always been sketching, designing and playing around with models.

“I think that’s important: taking sketches and turning them into a 3D shape – in my case by physically making a model.

“It’s the 10,000-hour rule: if you do something from a young age, work at it, you develop new pathways [in the brain] to become an expert at it.

“Five per cent inspiration, 95 per cent perspiration; F1 is an engineering discipline with a creative side – but it has to be creative for an engineering reason to make the car go faster. It’s that combination that makes it so fascinating.”

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Newey began work at Aston Martin in March in the newly-created managing technical partner role, while he also became a team shareholder.

His first Aston Martin mission revolves around F1 2026, when new chassis and engine regulations will arrive in one of the biggest overhauls Formula 1 has seen.

So, with Newey’s creative juices flowing, and Aston Martin ready to welcome Honda aboard as its new engine manufacturer, the Silverstone squad is one to watch next season and beyond.

That excitement can also be felt in Newey’s former Red Bull ally, Max Verstappen, who won all four of his Drivers’ titles in Newey-designed machinery.

“It just reminds me of how he was with us when I see him in the garage there,” Verstappen said of Newey and Aston Martin, as he spoke to the media including PlanetF1.com.

“But honestly, there’s no point anymore to think about it. Adrian is not with us anymore.

“We have a lot of respect still for Adrian – or at least I have a lot of respect for Adrian. He’s a great person also, besides all the success that he has had with our team as well.

“Now to see him in green, of course, is a little bit different, but I’m happy for him. I hope he’s happy. That’s the most important at the end of the day. And I’m sure that he will contribute to their success.

“I’m excited to see what they can do next year, when I think he’s finally fully involved.”

As for this season, Aston Martin sit eighth in the Constructors’ standings after 12 rounds with 36 points on the board.

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