Adrian Newey

Следить за полетом мысли гения не менее захватывающе, чем наблюдать изготовленный им шедевр. С этим согласится любой читавший дневники Да Винчи. Эдриан Ньюи – самый успешный создатель болидов «Формулы-1» последних лет тридцати: 154 победы и 11 Кубков Конструкторов.

Практически каждый год ему приходилось придумывать способы обходить очередные ограничения, налагаемые организаторами соревнований на автомобили, и каждый раз его решения оказывались лучшими.

Ошибаются ли гении? Да. Да так, что могут погубить других гениев. Именно на машине Ньюи разбился «Волшебник» Айртон Сенна. И здесь, пожалуй, в первый раз мы сможем прочитать о той трагедии со слов непосредственного участника событий.… (más)

Ghost writer Andrew Holmes does a spectacular job at capturing Adrian Newey's cheekiness in both life and on the drawing board.

Honestly, I only wanted the nerdy behind the scenes technical details of Newey's career. That's here with extravagant detail and explanations that give context for the last three decades of F1 car design. Yet what surprised me was how engaging the personal details of Newey's story were. It's interesting that Newey never shies away from admitting workaholic commitment to his profession and yet from youth to present day, so much of this book conveys a witty and competitive spirit animating his entire life.

A great book for F1 fans and especially for anyone interested in the evolution of design process and thinking in pursuit of lap time.… (más)

Authentic insight into people and politics involved in F1. Adrian tells us about himself, his work, the struggle to build a new, competitive F1 car year after year. He explains the rationale behind his designs and how some of his design came about. And the stories behind the stories you read about in F1. When the competitors insisted FIA stood for Ferrari International Aid. The song by John Lennon about F1 and its' characters (think Bernie E. for one). Read Adrian's opinion about some of the rule changes. It's great stuff.… (más)

Most racing-related (auto)biographies focus on the drivers. But there are other interesting stories to tell about racing in general and Formula One in particular. Adrian Newey’s autobiography offers a unique insight into the world of Formula One.

Newey knew from an early age that he wanted to design race cars. He made the smart choice to focus his education on the aerodynamics side of things, not the mechanical engineering. Thus prepared, he went to work at March and proceeded from there, not only as designer, but also as race engineer. The book chronicles his successful days at Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. It gives unique insights into the design processes involved, which often include finding loopholes in the rules, and then exploiting them before a) the competition catches up, or b) the FIA abolishes the exploits.

Newey also describes the other aspects of Formula 1 live – the political machinations, the partying, and the occasional black spot – the toll the constant travelling took on two marriages, and most notably the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994, in a Newey-designed Williams. Newey the racer is also in there – an aspect of his life that I had not previously heard of. He has computed in historic racing with a Ford GT40 and a Jaguar E-Type, suffering a horrific accident with the former in Le Mans, but also winning many races.

This book has received some well-deserved praise. If you’re at all interested in modern Formula One, and racing in general, I can highly recommend this book.… (más)