How to Build a Car: The Autobiography of the World’s Greatest Formula 1 Designer

Ghost writer Andrew Holmes does a spectacular job at capturing Adrian Newey's cheekiness in both life and on the drawing board.

Honestly, I only wanted the nerdy behind the scenes technical details of Newey's career. That's here with extravagant detail and explanations that give context for the last three decades of F1 car design. Yet what surprised me was how engaging the personal details of Newey's story were. It's interesting that Newey never shies away from admitting workaholic commitment to his profession and yet from youth to present day, so much of this book conveys a witty and competitive spirit animating his entire life.

A great book for F1 fans and especially for anyone interested in the evolution of design process and thinking show more in pursuit of lap time. show less

4.5 stars

As an F1 fan I was buzzing to read this - and it definitely lived up to my expectations. Adrian Newey is a remarkable figure in the motor racing industry and takes the reader along his way to reaching the top of motorsport through witty anecdotes and engineering lessons. There have been several times when I was laughing out loud while reading - kudos to the ghostwriter for making the stories come alive on paper.

I’ll admit I didn’t understand everything when Newey explained his solutions to aerodynamic/mechanical problems, especially in the latter part of the book where the problems were more complex and the descriptions were shorter, it seemed. The drawings helped, but not always. Nevertheless, my lack of understanding show more engineering didn’t make this read any less enjoyable.

Newey’s passion for motorsport and dedication to his work is impressive to say the least and I was left admiring his (positive!) influence on a sport as complicated as motor racing. I’d recommend this to any F1 fan, especially those who are interested in how F1 cars have evolved over the past 30 or so years. show less

Следить за полетом мысли гения не менее захватывающе, чем наблюдать изготовленный им шедевр. С этим согласится любой читавший дневники Да Винчи. Эдриан Ньюи – самый успешный создатель болидов «Формулы-1» последних лет тридцати: 154 победы и 11 Кубков Конструкторов.

Практически каждый год ему приходилось придумывать способы обходить очередные ограничения, налагаемые организаторами соревнований на show more автомобили, и каждый раз его решения оказывались лучшими.

Ошибаются ли гении? Да. Да так, что могут погубить других гениев. Именно на машине Ньюи разбился «Волшебник» Айртон Сенна. И здесь, пожалуй, в первый раз мы сможем прочитать о той трагедии со слов непосредственного участника событий. show less

Most racing-related (auto)biographies focus on the drivers. But there are other interesting stories to tell about racing in general and Formula One in particular. Adrian Newey’s autobiography offers a unique insight into the world of Formula One.

Newey knew from an early age that he wanted to design race cars. He made the smart choice to focus his education on the aerodynamics side of things, not the mechanical engineering. Thus prepared, he went to work at March and proceeded from there, not only as designer, but also as race engineer. The book chronicles his successful days at Williams, McLaren, and Red Bull. It gives unique insights into the design processes involved, which often include finding loopholes in the rules, and then show more exploiting them before a) the competition catches up, or b) the FIA abolishes the exploits.

Newey also describes the other aspects of Formula 1 live – the political machinations, the partying, and the occasional black spot – the toll the constant travelling took on two marriages, and most notably the death of Ayrton Senna at Imola in 1994, in a Newey-designed Williams. Newey the racer is also in there – an aspect of his life that I had not previously heard of. He has computed in historic racing with a Ford GT40 and a Jaguar E-Type, suffering a horrific accident with the former in Le Mans, but also winning many races.

This book has received some well-deserved praise. If you’re at all interested in modern Formula One, and racing in general, I can highly recommend this book. show less

Authentic insight into people and politics involved in F1. Adrian tells us about himself, his work, the struggle to build a new, competitive F1 car year after year. He explains the rationale behind his designs and how some of his design came about. And the stories behind the stories you read about in F1. When the competitors insisted FIA stood for Ferrari International Aid. The song by John Lennon about F1 and its' characters (think Bernie E. for one). Read Adrian's opinion about some of the rule changes. It's great stuff.

Adrian Newey has been living and breathing cars since he first started sketching them at the age of 12. The roots of this love were seeing his father pottering around in the garage on some project or other. Drawing them was one thing, what he really wanted to do was build them, so a welding course followed one summer holiday. He tried racing karts, having saved to buy one, but even though he enjoyed it, it was not his thing. He worked hard to get into Southampton to do a degree in mechanical engineering, however, the maths was a struggle. Leaving with a 1st, he wrote to Brabham and a lot of the other teams but nothing seemed to be offered until a chance call from Fittipaldi and his interview consisted of a nervous wait while Harvey show more Postlethwaite took his Ducati for a test ride. He was in the door.

The first car that he was involved with, Newey ended up redesigning the aerodynamics to meet the latest change in regulations. The team folded after the money ran out and he was offered a position at March working on the 83G as well as working on the car for the Daytona 24 hour race. Success in that meant he was seconded to Truesports to help with another Indycar. Then the opportunity beckoned for a place in a Formula 1 team, and he joined Leyton House where he had the chance to design a car from scratch. Other teams noticed his success and soon he was working for Williams on their FW14 to FW18 cars before being poached again by McLaren. Leaving there under a little bit of a cloud, he ended up with the newest team in the paddock, Red Bull. The owner wanted to make a serious investment in the sport to promote the brand and the drink and so began a new era and four world championships.

People are well aware of the drivers who wrestle these cars at 200 mph around some of the fastest circuits in the calendar. There are a few team heads that people can name, but most of the designers, engineers and aerodynamicists are completely unknown. But there is one who is almost a household name, Adrian Newey. To put it frankly he is an engineering genius. He has worked with almost all the big teams, using his wide experience in creating a car that just goes very very fast. These cars have, in the right hands, give some of the best drivers in the world race wins and world championships. I have been an F1 fan since the age of 8. I grew up in Woking, and McLaren has always been my number one team, though their performance in the past few years has not done them any favours. There is plenty of fascinating detail in this book, as Newey writes about some of his personal life as well as lots of information about the cars that he designed and how he solved the particular problems that the constant changes in regulation through up. Definitely a books for the die hard F1 fan. show less

Snappily written and divided into car-based sections and then further into bite-sized chapters and by the ghost writer this is a very easy read. It's generally light tone varies appropriately at parts such as the death of Ayrton Senna or brief mentions of martial difficulties. The Formula One gossip is interesting without being too btichy. The engineering parts all seem to just boil down to aerodynamics and body shape.

The layout and typography are really nicely done as well.