WORKING WITH BRAWN AND NEWEY
Ask your average fan to name the two engineering minds that have had the biggest impact on Formula 1 in the past 30 years and the names most likely to crop up are Ross Brawn and Adrian Newey. Sandwell’s Colin Mcgrory is among a select group to have worked with both.
Joining Arrows in 1987 from the moribund Haas team – where he had briefly crossed paths with Newey – Brawn’s first design, the A10 (below), was plagued by problems with the pop-off valve that limited the boost levels, although Eddie Cheever took it to third at Monza in ’88. Mcgrory enjoyed working with Brawn, but found that he could frustrate the designer.
“I do like to stop and think and that drove Ross mad because sometimes I’d be pondering something and he’d just want to get the car back out on-track. I think he was a little bit frustrated with me!”
By the time Brawn left Arrows for Jaguar’s sportscar programme in 1989, Mcgrory had also departed for Leyton House, where he got an early insight into Newey’s modus operandi. His normally aspirated 881 yielded sixth in the constructors’ championship in ’88, but ’89 was a disappointment and Newey left for Williams shortly before Ivan Capelli’s valiant second place at the French Grand Prix in 1990.
“Adrian chased every gram of weight on the car, so credit to him, I think he moved F1 on quite rapidly during that time,” says Mcgrory. “He started using much smaller bearings, much smaller nuts and bolts, which meant that the components could shrink down as well.”
Mcgrory found Brawn and Newey contrasting personalities to work with, but both were “absolutely focused on the end result” and were open to ideas.
“They both listened a lot, you would go to them with an idea and they would say, ‘Let’s try it’,” he says. “It was that really positive approach all the time that they both had – and still have!”
Mcgrory says he was impressed by their “great presence” and impact on others during his time working with both: “It’s that totally focused brain, nothing will take them off course. They’re going to make the fastest car, the best-performing car there is, whatever it takes.”