Adrian Newey Snubs His Championship Winning Cars for Niki Lauda’s Iconic Ferrari

Tanish Chachra | 13/12/2024
Adrian Newey (GBR), Red Bull Racing , Technical Operations Director and Nikki Lauda (AU), Mercedes

Adrian Newey has won F1 championships with multiple cars and all of them could qualify in the ranks of the greatest cars that ever graced the sport. In the latest Goodwood festival of speed, there were multiple Red Bull and Williams cars on the showcase, largely designed by Newey. Yet when asked if he could take any car from the collection at the arena which one would he pick, he snubbed all his cars and chose Niki Lauda’s 1975 championship car—312 B3.

“I have to say actually driving Niki Lauda’s 74 championship car up the hill has been a real privilege,” said Newey. “To sit in his car 50 years later and imagine what he must have been thinking and experiencing in that car. It must have been very special.”

1974 was Lauda’s first year at Ferrari. Even though neither Ferrari nor Lauda won the championship with that car, it was the beginning of the success that the Italian outfit was about to see.

Lauda won his first championship in the following year, and again clinched the title in 1977, while he was very close to having a title in 1976. Therefore, Ferrari 312 BR holds a special place in the Italian team’s history.

This question was not posed to Newey alone. There were a panel of several other former and current Red Bull members who were asked the same question, and everyone had some interesting picks.

Red Bull gang pick their favorite

In this segment, David Coulthard, Daniel Ricciardo, Mark Webber, Max Verstappen, and Christian Horner also gave their picks. Webber was quick to pick the RB6. It surely holds a special place for him, as it was the first car that brought the title glory at Milton Keynes.

Verstappen made a weak quip of having any car with an active suspension. He reasoned that the rest were “bottoming a lot“. Besides Newey, Coulthard was the only one to pick a non-Red Bull car and went with the Williams’ 14B, a car designed by the legendary British aerodynamicist back in 1992.

Meanwhile, Ricciardo picked the RB10. He reasoned that since it was his first Red Bull car, it held a special place for him. Horner, like a parent who doesn’t want to name his favorite child, avoided answering the question.

Nevertheless, in a brief history of 18 years in F1, Red Bull has made some iconic cars. So picking one will always remain a tough choice.

Post Edited By: Vidit Dhawan
Adrian Newey Niki Lauda Red Bull

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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