From Showers to Strolls: How Newey Sparks Innovation

Adrian Newey’s genius knows no bounds—whether in the shower, walking his dog, or waking at night, his F1 innovations never stop.

Adrian Newey explains how he works and how computer-aided design has influenced his approach to development ideas. The new Aston Martin F1 technical director has a clearer vision of what needs to be done, but it sometimes requires more distant reflection.

“What I’ve observed is that, when it comes to aerodynamics, thanks to CFD tools that allow visualization, we can start to understand airflow much more easily than before,” Newey explains.

“It’s about analyzing CFD, trying to understand vortex structures, losses, pressure fields, then working on certain details and ideas. I often find myself stuck and stepping away, then a new idea might emerge—sometimes in the middle of the night, which is annoying!”

“I used to get up immediately and sketch things down, only to wake up in the morning and think, ‘What nonsense, it wasn’t worth getting up and ruining my sleep.’ Now, I tend to wake up and take the approach, ‘If it’s a good idea, I’ll still remember it in the morning.’”

“I now use this approach as a sort of initial filter, if you will. Others are more immediate, like getting up, going for a walk, having a coffee… I find that sometimes it’s easier to step away and come back. Or in the shower, all the usual things. It’s generally about iterative ideas.”

“The first main ideas tend to be, if you like, freer but almost always unexpected—whether in the shower or walking the dogs. The subconscious never ceases to fascinate me… how you can be doing something completely different, and then this kind of thought bubble just emerges.”

The engineer often observes other F1 cars and openly admits he draws inspiration from them: “It’s usually about trying to see what others are doing. From time to time, I share my observations with the factory heads and say, ‘I’ve noticed this, it might be worth copying, let’s try it on our car.’”

“Other times, I use it more to think, ‘OK, they’ve gone in this direction, what were they trying to achieve?’ What interests me is the kind of objective someone is aiming for, rather than the specific details of how they got there.”