7 best racing cars according to Adrian Newey | GRR

This suggests that punters are not overly concerned about the huge sum, but rather accept that the greatest F1 designer of all time is well worth investing in. After all, he delivered 25 world championships between 1992 and 2023 with cars designed for Williams, McLaren and Red Bull.

Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, Jacques Villeneuve, Mika Häkkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen can all thank Newey for the cars he delivered to them, and Aston Martin will be hoping to add a few more names to that list.

Several of Newey’s designs would make it onto lists of the greatest F1 cars of all time, but let’s take a closer look at his best work, starting with his early days with the March IndyCar project.

March 86C

Fresh out of college, Newey’s career began in 1980 and he joined March in ’81, where he was first responsible for working on the team’s GTP project with the March 83G. That car won the IMSA GT Championship in 1983 and ’84, but that paved the way for Newey to move to March’s IndyCar project, where he designed the March 85C and March 86C which both proved to be the fastest chassis in the field.

In all, 16 teams including Penske used the 86C during the 1986 IndyCar season, and it won 14 of the 17 races including the Indy 500. The car carried Bobby Rahal to the championship, while Michael Andretti and Danny Sullivan rounded out the top three March 86C drivers. Penske also chose to use it again in the 1987 Indy 500 where Al Unser Sr. drove to victory once again.

March 881

After a few years of moving between IndyCar and F1, Newey was rehired in March to take on the role of Chief Designer for the F1 team. His first F1 car was the March 881, which he designed for the 1988 season for drivers Ivan Capelli and Maurício Gugelmin.

The 881 was the first evidence that Adrian Newey’s understanding of car design was unlike anyone else’s. It was a beauty, first and foremost, but it had a sleek nose, sharply-pointed sidepods and a sculpted engine cover that was reminiscent of his later Red Bull designs. It was a car unlike any other on the grid in 1988, and although initially hampered by an underpowered and unreliable Judd V8, Capelli eventually managed two podiums in the second half of the season to underline the 881’s innate potential.

Williams FW14B

Although results at March and Leyton House were never satisfactory, Newey’s talent was clear to see, and it wasn’t long before top teams came calling. Patrick Head at Williams signed him in 1990 and he was soon working on the new FW14 for 1991. With a big new budget and an established world championship-winning team to back him, Newey finally had the infrastructure to develop a winning car, and he did.

Early reliability problems thwarted its chances of championship glory in ’91, but once those issues were ironed out, the FW14B became one of the most dominant cars in F1 history. While not entirely due to Newey’s design exploits, the FW14B was also the most technologically advanced F1 car of all time with active suspension, traction control and a semi-automatic transmission.

Its superiority was such that the FW15 intended to race for most of 1992 was never used, and was instead held back to race in FW15C form in 1993.

Williams FW18

In 1996, Adrian Newey began to get used to winning and fighting for world championships, and the FW18 was another masterpiece. In our opinion, it is one of the most beautiful F1 cars of all time, and its luxurious curves produce incredible speed.

The car won 12 races overall, eight for defending champion Damon Hill and four for Jacques Villeneuve, and cruised to one of the most dominant constructors’ championship wins in history, beating Ferrari by 105 points. You can see from the shape of the sidepods, and the way the mandatory extra cockpit protection had been implemented, that Newey was once again a step ahead of his rivals in terms of aerodynamics.

McLaren MP4/13 Car

Newey joined McLaren as Technical Director in 1997, and his first real involvement was overseeing the design and development of the MP4/13 that would compete in the 1998 F1 season. Surprise, surprise, it was class, but at a level that even Newey had never achieved before. This was his first foray into major regulation changes, and it’s fair to say that he once again proved his talent with a pencil was superior to the rest.

Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard locked out the front row at the first round in Melbourne and finished a lap clear of the rest of the field. Häkkinen won eight races en route to the title, and McLaren beat Ferrari to the constructors’ championship.

Red Bull RB9

A decade after his success with McLaren overseeing a major regulation overhaul, Newey did it again in 2009 with Red Bull Racing. Almost overnight, Red Bull went from being a bottom-of-the-table team to a championship contender, and the man who designed it was once again instrumental in that fact. The RB6 took the team to its first title in 2010, but Newey refined his concept for this era of cars in 2013 with the RB9.

The team had already claimed an impressive three consecutive doubles with Sebastian Vettel, but it was not enough for the man once described as the most competitive individual in the F1 paddock. The RB9’s dominance was unprecedented as Vettel claimed nine consecutive wins, taking a total of 13, on his way to a fourth title.

Red Bull RB19

It was unprecedented, and unmatched, until Newey outdid himself by designing the most successful F1 car of all time ten years later. He reminded the world once again why he is considered the greatest F1 designer of all time when his RB18 concept made a mockery of his rivals as Max Verstappen cruised to his second drivers’ title, but in typical style he went one step further in 2023 as Red Bull and Verstappen made history together.

The team looked certain to win every race that season as Verstappen embarked on a ten-race winning run, but a shocker in Singapore ruined the potential for a clean sweep. Despite the slight disappointment, the RB19 is a fearsome car with fearsome connotations for all drivers. Adrian Newey is getting better with age, and there is no sign of his star fading. Aston Martin must be very happy.

Image courtesy of Motorsport Images.