Adrian Newey staying at Red Bull Racing
- Published on 12 Mar 2018 08:18
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- By: Rob Veenstra
Adrian Newey is staying at Red Bull, even though the former title-winning team has appointed a new technical director. France's L'Equipe reported that Frenchman Pierre Wache has been appointed Red Bull's technical boss.
But Newey, one of F1's most famous and successful designers, is staying as chief technology officer. Wache, who already had a prominent technical role, confirmed: "Adrian always focused more on aerodynamics, while I try to put the power to the road."
He said he understands that the technical director role is a high pressure one. "I understand what this post means, and the risks. It doesn't frighten me, but I understand that results are expected. And I want to show that I can give them," Wache added.
There is no doubt that Newey, 59, has been less enamoured by and focused on F1 in the 'power unit' era. And although he attended the Barcelona tests, he sounds unenthused about the future, including Liberty Media's plans for a budget cap.
"Mercedes is superior in every way in this engine formula," Newey told Auto Motor und Sport. "Power, consumption, driveability, energy recovery. You can't make up for that with a better car." And he said Liberty's budget cap plans will be no fix. "That's socialism. And in real life, it's only ever worked in theory," said the Briton.
Newey said a better approach would be to ban wind tunnels and limit CFD simulation, which would mean teams need less people. And he thinks the older, louder V8 and V10 engines of the past were actually more 'green' than today's hybrids.
"In 1998, our McLaren weighed 580kg, with 45 kilos of ballast on board. Today we're at 733kg with virtually no ballast. We could save a lot of fuel if we weren't so heavy, but that would only be possible with the other engines," Newey said. (GMM)
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Replies (10)
Login to replymclarenfan1968
Posts: 1,027
^^ This. Ban the wind tunnels totally. CFD computing power is lavishly outstanding today, what is missing is the correlation to the real world which means tweaking your formulas to better mimic observed data in the wind tunnel. With no one in F1 pushing CFD tech to the limit progress will never be made, ban the wasteful windtunnels and watch the CFD barriers being blown away with even better accuracy and superior repeatability all done with unrivaled efficiency in manpower and effort. It is very easy to put a limit on CFD testing.
There is nothing more powerful than putting batch runs for massive regressions on a server farm. You don't need a township's worth of engineers to work on it.
Ofcourse there is the worker, or should we say engineer, unions that are standing in the way. They are not ready to reduce work force in the sport. When it all comes to money no one really cares about the sport's efficiency, as long plenty of engineers get employed and more engineers get produced at universities to fill the ever expanding needless new roles.
boudy
Posts: 1,168
Running old style v8 engines doesn't feel like the right way to go. So it all depends on if the new owners would like to be related to the types of pu that will be used on the road.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Agreed.
mcbhargav
Posts: 1,332
Right on point by Newey. By introducing socialism, liberty not only deatroys the innovation, it also brings the F1 down to some of the other less technical series, by repelling the best engineers.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Lets be real here: Horner says what he think we want to hear.
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
"Newey
2GRX7
Posts: 108
While I really appreciate Newey's history in F1, he's completely wrong in his assessment on "socialism" only working in theory- it works perfectly well in the NFL.
The way the NFL is structured, it allows for the cream to rise to the top. The most intelligent, talented minds work within the financial cap that is presented to them. That's why one would see different teams in the playoffs/Super Bowl, with some obviously showing more talent (Patriots) than others (Jets) in the front office!
When it comes to the "front office" in F1, i understand that the EU labor laws are pretty restricted, and to be honest, why would you want to let all that talent go? The employees displaced can simply be that liaison office, set up to bridge the gap between emerging tech and real-world implementation, with those employees placed on another line in the ledger.
For me, I want to see a Alfa/Sauber, HAAS, or Williams win against the big boys. Being able to turn on the TV and not know who's going to win would make the sport way more enthralling!
kngrthr
Posts: 203
formula 1 has pushed the development of aerodynamics at a great pace.
the military are happy to spend many years developing weapons and planes and the results rarely find their way to us. unless they bomb us.
the aircraft industry moves slowly and they can stick witha design for decades.
would be a shame to lose this developement knowledge
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
I'd hate to use the NFL as an example for anything in sports, but your point is valid. However, Liberty is not even advocating for socialized revenue, it's more about budget caps, standardize certain parts, tweaking. The big teams will continue have the best facilities, the best engineers, the ability to attract the best talent etc. Which is fine with me. The whole point of Liberty's effort is yo minimize the gaps which have gotten absurd. Eliminate the three tier F1 we have right now
2GRX7
Posts: 108
EXACTLY- not exactly true socialism, but a base accounting of it (hence, my air quoting). Not sure why the NFL example is bad, but I like the fact that a Phili Eagles can come out of nowhere and win the Super Bowl over the Patriots. That's like Force India beating Mercedes to the Championship!!!