The resume of a longtime successful professional is far from his real life achievements. That is why he often resorts to publishing his autobiography. This is the ultimate effort of personal vanity and public contribution, even if the letter is entrusted to a scribe who does not know the purpose of the assignment.

As Adrian Newey himself says of Andrew Holmes: he didn’t know anything about motorsport before meeting me and it worked because he got me to explain myself. The last sentence summarizes the reason for the existence of How to Build a Car, which was released to the world in October 2017 by Harpercollins Publishers LLC. Newey at age 64 (born December 26, 1958) had already been professionally involved in motorsport and in particular designing Formula One racing cars since the early 80s, but realized his passion for as far back as he can remember at the age of six. He was born in Stratford-upon-Avon in the Midlands of the United Kingdom, in the most central part of the island. imbued with the “old” spirit of the Midlands, this slightly negative attitude, “head in the sand, hands in the ears”. But now the team is cultivating a “new” Midlands spirit, an attitude that encourages them to work hard and improve. We’ve gone from Paddock’s joke about being a young cool soft drink company to four-time world champions, and we’ve done it the traditional way, using principles that I felt were true to the spirit of motorsport. .”

It is clear that he is talking about his time at Red Bull and the first four championships he won before 2017. He has now added two more Drivers’ Championships and a Constructors’ Championship. This year, he partly withdrew. He appears in the group only twice a week. The rest of his time he devotes to the design of racing yachts and Aston Martin with commercial purposes and with extended conditions: “So I wanted it to be a car with two characters. First, when you are stuck in traffic on Oxford Street, to ensure a relatively comfortable environment. But if you want to take it to the track and drive it at a speed that will beat most racing cars, it can do that too.” So what is this vile “spirit” that forced him to overcome his literary failure and indulge in a deeply personal confession through interpretation?

He himself answers in the last paragraph of the book: “If I can help reduce car CO2 emissions from birth to death in the automotive industry as a whole and at the same time develop cars that people love, that’s what I will enjoy as a leader. challenge.” . I hope I can do it. I believe I can. Also, I like to think that I showed some ability in motorsport. The cars I was responsible for won 10 constructors’ titles and 154 races, and in that time I have been lucky enough to be between brilliant and inspiring racers, visionary stockbrokers, movie legends and even the Beatle.I survived tragedy and enjoyed victory as I sailed the turbulent waters of a sport that first fascinated me when I was a car freak and then followed me into adulthood, when I discovered the ability to turn my crazy ideas into reality and I was lucky enough to get a paid job doing it Thirty-five years later, I can look back on an adventurous and rewarding career dedicated to car design and ask myself the same simple questions How can we improve productivity How can we improve efficiency How can we do it differently ? How can I make it better?

In a few days, the new season of Formula 1 starts. Red Bull will try to defend its titles without founder Dietrich Mateschitz, who left us on October 22, 2022, and the partial presence of the most important designer of all time. Mercedes is retaining the basic structure of last year’s car – in this it follows Newey’s often-quoted advice in the book: “improve, not remake” – looking forward to a competitive comeback. A “big favorite” of the Italians and not only, it seems to have an unrivaled engine, but it remains to overcome the shortcomings inherent in its long history, which is identified with the existence of the sport. The remaining seven teams, the former protagonists of the sport, take the starting positions for 23 races in which racers, engineers, designers, journalists and spectators will share a unique experience of human courage in the face of their mortal fate, striving to resurrect it. timeless meaning.