Adrian Newey started his journey in the technical side of racing with March in the IndyCar championship. After tasting victories in the United States, Bernie Ecclestone welcomed the Briton into the world of F1 and had a lucrative offer for him. Newey revealed this anecdote in his book: “How to build a car“.
Ecclestone owned the Brabham F1 team and had a vacant Technical director position left by the McLaren-bound Gordon Murray. Newey was overwhelmed by the offer to replace one of his icons.
However, in the nick of time, he received an offer that he couldn’t refuse. An opportunity to work with the 1978 F1 champion Mario Andretti with a 500% salary hike.
Why did Adrian Newey snub Bernie Ecclestone’s offer?
Newey reveals he was approached by Carl Haas. Haas was a well-known figure in the IndyCar scene and had roped in the actor Paul Newman for a joint racing venture.
The duo ran the Newman/Haas Racing team in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Series. The team won the 1984 title with former F1 champion Mario Andretti.
Haas offered Newey work with his Haas Lola F1 team. However, shortly after joining the team, they shut down due to Financial troubles. At that time, Bernie Ecclestone offered the engineer a chance to work with the Brabham F1 team.
However, Carl Haas offered him the role of Mario Andretti’s race engineer in his CART team. Newey stated that he also was assured $400,000 a year salary. This was a massive pay hike compared to the $60,000 a year he previously earned in March.
Needless to say, he accepted the offer but enjoyed little success with the team. After spending the 1987 season in the Americas, he would break into F1 with the March 881 team.
Newey respected Ecclestone’s transparency
Bernie Ecclestone had offered Adrian Newey the chance to become technical director at Brabham. He would be replacing Gordon Murray, an engineer that Newey himself admired. Ecclestone wanted Newey to replace take this role
“Gordon is leaving. Nothing to do with you. He’s just leaving. We need a new technical director. Whether it’s you or not is up to you,” Newey reveals what Ecclestone said to him back then.
“He thoroughly deserves all the success he’s having this year” 🤩
Adrian Newey is delighted for Max Verstappen after he wins his second World Championship! pic.twitter.com/BUOo6UCIY4
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) October 9, 2022
Ecclestone also produced a contract and gave Newey time to think about it. He revealed that the pay was good, and with Bernie on board, the Briton was convinced that the team would be well-funded and well-run.
Having recently lost his job at Lola Haas, Newey was keen on accepting the offer. However, just before signing the contract, Ecclestone called him and told him, “I’m selling the team. I’ve found a buyer, all set up. If you want to still join, that’s up to you, but please be aware that I won’t be involved any more.”
Newey wrote he was reluctant to join Brabham after hearing the news. Without Bernie, there wasn’t much incentive to join the team. And having recently lost his job due to his team’s bankruptcy, Newey accepted Haas’s offer.
