Although Adrian Newey has undoubtedly established himself as one of the best aerodynamicists in F1 history, it all started for him at the age of 10. Back then, the Briton built the Lotus 49 kit and also labeled it his favorite creation at the time. Newey revealed the same in his book: “How to Build a Car“?
The departing Red Bull engineer explained how he “continued messing about with motor cars” back in 1968. He then described how he built the Lotus 49 kit, something even his dad couldn’t make despite the company claiming that one could finish it in a weekend.
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Newey said,
“My favorite was a one-twelfth scale Tamiya model of a Lotus 49, as driven by Jim Clark and Graham Hill.”
He liked this car model because of the color of the livery – a mixture of red, white, and gold. The Briton believes that it also had the right details and was a fantastic model overall.
By the age of 12, Adrian Newey developed such an interest in designing cars that he was already “bored” of working on others’ projects. He wanted to develop something from scratch for himself.
This was when Newey began taking drawing more seriously. He took out pictures from Autosport, copied them, and added a touch of his own genius to it.
The Lotus 49 kit was one of the first cars designed by Newey – although it was a scale model – and he did so at just 10 years old. 55 years later, he drove an actual Lotus car himself around the iconic circuit of Monaco.
Adrian Newey drives Lotus 49B at Grand Prix Monaco Historique event
Monaco is currently hosting the 14th edition of the Grand Prix Historique, to celebrate 100 years of motor racing. In this event, racing cars of different eras are driven around to show how much motorsports has evolved since 1924.
Among the many who drew some of the most legendary cars of the past decades, was Adrian Newey. The 65-year-old suited up to drive on the Lotus 49B.
Adrian Newey driving the Lotus 49B at the #GrandPrixMonacoHistorique! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/wmFELmgYZ6
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Motorsport Triple Crown winner Graham Will won the 1968 F1 World Championship with this car, and it was designed by Colin Chapman – founder of Lotus.
It was the first F1 car to use a stressed-member drivetrain to reduce weight. This was revolutionary, to say the least, as today, designers build all their cars in the same way.
