adrian newey at Red Bull — Photo: © IMAGO

F1 News & Gossip

Legendary F1 figure reveals Red Bull SECRETS

The engineer had designed some iconic and dominant title winning cars for the team

Tyler Rowlinson

Tuesday 5 March 2024 21:57

Legendary F1 engineer Adrian Newey has revealed some secrets about how he prepares ideas for the design of Red Bull’s machines.

Newey has enjoyed a long and successful career in F1 that has spanned over more than three decades and has been with Red Bull since 2006.

In that time, the 65-year-old has overseen the design of their cars as they won seven world championships with Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen and six constructors’ titles.

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And speaking on the Talking Bull podcast, Newey revealed how he keeps his ideas for designs in what has been called a ‘legendary’ red notebook.

Adrian Newey has been with Red Bull since 2006

He has designed the cars that won Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen their world championships

Red Bull had the dominant season in history in 2023

Newey reveals Red Bull car design secrets

“In truth, the red notebook, it’s a cover if I’m brutally honest,” he revealed.

“Some time ago, I used to, whilst having a notebook at the time, I’d scribble away in it, and then I find that because everything was written down so randomly, I’m afraid I’m not very good at working in a linear way, then I’d never be able to find it.

“So I’ve gone to actually just having scraps of A4, loose A4, inside the notebook. So whichever bit I’m thinking about at the time in terms of the category if you like, within the notebook there are different facets.”

Newey also discussed how he had to handle ‘multitasking’ during the 2021 season, as he had to research the RB17 that won Verstappen his first title, whilst also preparing for the new regulations that came a year later.

“It’s something I enjoy,” he said. “I don’t think my wife would agree with me about being good at multitasking! 2021 was certainly a very busy year, which was completely self-inflicted. I don’t know why I did it.

“I totally brought it on myself, because we started the RB17 research, we got into a very tight championship battle with Mercedes through the 2021 season so there was a big development program and big push on trying to win that championship.

“And then of course we had the fundamental research on a totally new set of rules in Formula 1 for 2022, which became the RB18.

“I enjoy the variety and I think that’s perhaps what’s important to me. I’ve been fortunate enough to have a long career in Formula 1 now and I think what helps to stop me going stale is being able to apply my mind to other things as well.”

Red Bull Max Verstappen Adrian Newey Sebastian Vettel