Book review

Autobiography of the world greatest F1 designer

The man who has created more F1-winning cars than anyone else tells tales of his triumphs and tragedies. Yogendra Pratap elaborates

Adrian Newey has spent over 35 years at the heart of the Formula One, designing cars for teams as diverse as Williams, McLaren and Red Bull and his cars have won more Formula One Constructors’ and Drivers’ titles than anyone else. In How to Build A Car, Newey talks about his journey from Indycar racing to the heart of Formula One. Not only does the book give an insight into the teams he worked for, the cars he designed, the people involved in his journey but also the drivers ranging from Mario Andretti and Nigel Mansell on one side and Alain Prost and Mike Hakkinen on the other. In addition to the modern greats like Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber. He also designed cars for them.

But it was not all smooth sailing and for the first time Adrian Newey opens up about the biggest tragedy to occur in Formula One and his role in it. In an explosive chapter, he owns up about his moral responsibility for the death of motorsports legend Ayrton Senna as he died trying to extract the maximum performance from a car he had designed. And how a simple design fix could have prevented the death of one of the most talented motorsport drivers to have ever graced the sport. For all the Formula One fans this book is essential reading but for the fans of Ayrton Senna it’s a valuable lesson, as Adrian details how Ayrton came to be driving for Williams, his determination to be the fastest and how a simple rule change led to the Williams FW16 being unstable and deadly in the hands of Senna. As the title suggests, the 35 year journey into Formula One, is not only interesting but also gives a good insight into making of these high speed machines and what makes them winners in the hands of the right drivers. Overall, the book will ring a bell not only with Formula One lovers but also for all the fans of Ayrton Senna as well.