Adrian Newey, the legendary Formula 1 designer, offered an insight into how he approaches dealing with adversity, something which he feels is inevitable in work and life.<\/p>\n
Newey recalled how he went from bursting onto the Formula 1 scene by designing a Leyton House car which \u201coverachieved\u201d, to its successor being a \u201ccomplete and utter disaster\u201d, resulting in doubt among his colleagues and himself, and the learning of a very valuable lesson.<\/p>\n
Adrian Newey recalls important \u2018utter disaster\u2019<\/p>\n
After enjoying IndyCar title-winning success in the mid-1980s, Newey embarked on a Formula 1 career with March\/Leyton House.<\/p>\n
He quickly learned a very valuable lesson, one which has shaped what has become a legendary career.<\/p>\n
Newey has contributed to a total of 26 world championship wins, and is now looking to add to that tally with Aston Martin. He has been hard at work designing the F1 2026 Aston Martin to the new regulations, and was recently named the squad\u2019s new team principal.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I\u2019m lucky that I have a passion in something, and then it\u2019s a matter of trying to develop that, work with everybody, with my colleagues, and develop resilience as well,\u201d said Newey via the James Allen on F1 podcast.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody remembers the good results, of course, but they don\u2019t the duff years, and the duff races. They\u2019re very often actually what shapes you and how you react to that, and how you kind of try to keep confidence in yourself.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s an example in my particular case. I\u2019d kind of had a bit of a golden career in my 20s, in as much as I\u2019d become chief designer, initially on the sports car project, when I was only 24, and then the IndyCar projects for March, production team, when I was 25, and then I\u2019d become technical director at Leyton House, and I was 27.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll of those cars had either won races or championships. The \u201988 Leyton House [team then operating as March \u2013 editor], this first Formula 1 car for which I was responsible, overachieved. I became the new sort of kid on the block, if you like, in engineering terms, in Formula 1.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd possibly, I allowed it to go to my head a little bit. In as much as I was reading all these glowing articles in the press, and I was sort of thinking, \u2018Well, if you think that first one was good, wait until you see the second one\u2019, the 1989 car.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd that, was a complete and utter disaster.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in hindsight, actually \u2013 of course it didn\u2019t feel that way at the time \u2013 it was actually very good for me, because I think, first of all, it teaches that there\u2019s no place for ego in engineering.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have to keep your feet on the ground, remain objective.<\/p>\n
\u201cObviously one of the great things and one of the downsides of Formula 1 is that it\u2019s very public\u2026 and it wasn\u2019t just a bad couple of races, [it was] the whole flipping year, and I personally, didn\u2019t understand what was wrong with the car.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you start to lose confidence in yourself, one or two colleagues at work who kind of started to lose confidence in me as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s at that point, I think, that you have to try to dig deep and believe in yourself really that yes, life is full of these ups and downs. Life, as we all know, is not flat, and somebody says, \u2018All I want to do is be happy\u2019. Well, it\u2019s just not realistic, is it? And it would be boring if it was, because then you\u2019d lose your relativity.\u201d<\/p>\n
More on Adrian Newey from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n
\u2018Intense\u2019 Adrian Newey \u2018exchanges\u2019 uncovered as Honda issues Aston Martin update<\/a><\/p>\n Is Christian Horner the final piece in Adrian Newey\u2019s Aston Martin masterplan?<\/a><\/p>\n Newey explained how his time at university also shaped his method of responding to adversity.<\/p>\n He continued: \u201cSo I think kind of getting through that, and the grit and determination\u2026 I\u2019d also, to an extent, got it, particularly at Southampton University, where I hadn\u2019t done my A levels, I\u2019d done a thing called an OND, an Ordinary National Diploma.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I found that first year at Southampton, where I only had 16-year-old maths, and all the lecturers assumed you had 18-years-old maths, really, really tough, and nearly dropped out of uni.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think that was a good lesson. This 1989 year was a good lesson, that things are going to go badly, and it\u2019s how you how react to that, and how you try to keep your own self-confidence and self-belief that if you keep going at it, things will turn around.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n