Adrian Newey, what makes him so good as a designer?

[ashf1mclaren]

Adrian Newey, is possible the greatest formula 1 designer a long with other greats like chapman, byrne & brawn but what is it that make him and them so special in their designs and technical analysis?


many thanks to all replies

[lebesset]

well , I started a thread for man of the year in F1 late 2009 , and suggested adrian newey as a clear winner ; got voted down in favour of ross brawn

wonder what this years response would be !

[internetf1fan]

When was the last time Newey car won a WDC/WCC? Being fast is not enough. Designing a reliable car is a key part as well and that's where Newey fails.

[PNSD]

What made Schumacher good? Senna?

Well like with drivers, we dont know what makes Newey what he is.In both cases, driver and designer, its difficult to assess the individual.

I guess in short, we dont know what makes him good, if we did then we would be just as good !

[segedunum]

When was the last time Newey car won a WDC/WCC? Being fast is not enough. Designing a reliable car is a key part as well and that's where Newey fails.

His cars have pushed boundaries (this years' car is generating the equivalent of 120 kilos more downforce than anything else, so it has to cope with it) but the problem is designing a great car is not enough. You need the engine and the whole infrastructure of build and testing.

Reliability does not win championships. Not having the speed is the most difficult thing to work out.

[010010011010]

Reliability does not win championships. Not having the speed is the most difficult thing to work out.

Yeah but a lack of it can Loose you championships

[Just_a_fan]

Adrian Newey, is possible the greatest formula 1 designer

The thing about F1 teams is that they are just that - teams. Newey does not exist in isolation - to claim that he is the only genius at work in Red Bull is to forget the rest of the team he works with.

As with Brawn, I'd bet that one of Newey's key strengths is recognising when someone has brought him a great idea and incorporating it in to the design even at the expense of a "pet idea" of his own. A lack of ego if you will.

Getting the best from the team is where Brawn excelled and I'd bet that Newey does the same thing - just in a less obvious way (he always seems quite shy / retiring in interviews).

Getting the best guys together and then getting them to work harmoniously together is the real genius at work.

Reliability does not win championships.

True, but you can't win a championship without it either (unless everyone else is unreliable to the same extent, of course)

[manchild]

Adrian Newey...........what makes him so good as a designer?

Not using CAD.

[mep]

Not using CAD.

I have heard about it too, but to be honest I don't believe it.
I think it's more a myth for the media.
When it's true then he is not designing very much on the car himself. He probably does more organization kind of stuff.
Maybe I am just to young to imagine that he is still not using CAD but I can't imagine they do not. I am sure whole RedBull car is designed in CAD. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to do CFD analysis or even produce the car.

[manchild]

Newey does the drawings it the old way, and than design team converts them to CAD.

[engineguru00]

What makes him such a good designer?

In my opinion, the team of engineers he has working under him. Don't get me wrong, I think the guy is a great engineer. However, it takes an entire team working together under his directive to get the job done. I think he probably lets his engineers push the limits as to what is considered an acceptable factor of safety a bit more and this translates into a ton of little performance advantages that add up to what we see today in the RBR. As with anything though, the guy at the top of the department is going to be credited with their success (and failure when it happens).

[marcush.]

Not using CAD.

I have heard about it too, but to be honest I don't believe it.
I think it's more a myth for the media.
When it's true then he is not designing very much on the car himself. He probably does more organization kind of stuff.
Maybe I am just to young to imagine that he is still not using CAD but I can't imagine they do not. I am sure whole RedBull car is designed in CAD. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to do CFD analysis or even produce the car.

In fact you do not appreciate that CAD is nothing more than the equivalent of a hammer or a pen /ruler .
Not knowing about the shortcoming of a CAD system you are not restricting your thinking towards how you could bring it into the box..so in fact I feel working as the guy with the idea togethether with CAD gurus is the most productive way .I love the end product how it develops on the screen ,but I have to honestly admit
I struggle to get my ideas on the screen but can draw everything up with a few sketches..
so yes I´m sure he needs a fairly competent team behind him to put all the ideas into CAD data...but to be honest he´s the guy with that view and those under him live in this environment but do they really grasp what is up his mind? a decent percentage but the real cool stuff is all his.

[noname]

I have heard about it too, but to be honest I don't believe it.
I think it's more a myth for the media.
When it's true then he is not designing very much on the car himself. He probably does more organization kind of stuff.
Maybe I am just to young to imagine that he is still not using CAD but I can't imagine they do not. I am sure whole RedBull car is designed in CAD. Otherwise it wouldn't be possible to do CFD analysis or even produce the car.

it's not the guy in his position job to spent time in front of the LCD playing with CAD or CAE, it would be just wasting of time.

he is leading the team, generating ideas, encouraging younger engineers and making key decisions. rough sketches or preliminary hand drawings are enough to do this job.

[marcush.]

oh yes he´s left handed..!!

[mep]

The thing who strikes me is that the media are claiming that he is one of the last engineers who are still using the drawing board instead of a CAD program to design the cars and that he still manages to build one of the best cars on the world.
For me this can be nothing else than a pure lie.
Pictures with him on the drawing board are possible just posed for commercial use too.
Its ok when he makes a hand drew sketch in seconds but I can't see any sense in really making a accurate design on paper in these days. In the end you need it in digital anyways.
When I look at the car and see these well defined curves and 3D surfaces I know that they build it on a 3D system especially when you keep the short time for developing in mind.

When Adrian Newey is not using any CAD system then he probably hasn't drew any line on this car really himself.