Adrian Newey, one of F1’s sharpest minds ever, had the privilege of working with one F1’s greatest drivers ever in Ayrton Senna. This was back in 1994 when Senna, a world champion by then, joined Williams from McLaren. In the Beyond the Grid podcast in 2023, Newey shed light on his first ever interaction with Senna.
Newey said,
“It was obviously a very short relationship, unfortunately. He was phenomenally inquisitive. You could argue that he didn’t need to know that [details about the 1993 car in the wind tunnel], but for him, he just wanted every bit of information he could possibly have because that might be useful to him at some point in the future. I think probably, more than any other driver I’ve been involved with. That’s what I found unique about him.”
The Red Bull mastermind spoke about how Senna took an interest in going to the wind-tunnel to learn more about their previous year’s car. He also showed curiosity and asked Newey what changes they had made to the 1994 car, to make it better than its predecessor.
Newey had been working with Williams since 1991, and his car soon began delivering results for the British team. He helped the Grove-based outfit to claim the Constructors’ championship in 1992 and 1993. Williams’ Nigel Mansell and Alain Prost also took home the 1992 and 1993 driver’s championships, respectively.
This attracted Senna‘s attention, who switched to Williams after a couple of struggling years at McLaren. Prost, who was then at Williams, did not stay back to race alongside his long-time rival/teammate. The Frenchman ended up retiring from the sport altogether. Senna, however, went into the season, with hopes of winning the world championship.
Ayrton Senna’s crash and the aftermath
Ayrton Senna signed for Williams in 1994, his first year of working with Newey. Him, and the majority of the F1 community thought he was a strong favorite to win the world title. Unfortunately, that year, the Williams FW16 was also the last car Senna drove before his tragic death in Imola.
The beginning of the 1994 San Marino GP started with the crash of Rubens Barrichello. Then the crash and death of Roland Ratzenberger followed. Ultimately, it was Senna, who crashed that weekend and he too, like Ratzenberger, succumbed to his injuries.
The Brazilian driver crashed his Williams at a high speed in the Tamburello corner. Following the accident, several members of the Williams team were charged with manslaughter. Adrian Newey was one of them.
However, Newey and the others were soon acquitted, due to lack of evidence. Nevertheless, the FIA ramped up the safety procedures following this crash. They introduced rules such as bending the entry of the pit lane to reduce speed. Along with banning the lane for crews except the ones working in pit stops.
