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How to Build a Car by Adrian Newey

Harper Collins Publishers, 2017

Review by K.S.Loganathan, Consultant – tire & rubber and author

With all the hoopla surrounding F1 racing, in print, visual and interactive media, not to mention official websites, guides, statistics, props and paraphernalia – what more do you need to know about this hyper-competitive sport?

Plenty, it would seem, reading the autobiography of F1 veteran chassis designer, Adrian Newey, OBE. In a career spanning 35 years, he has been making the cars go faster, winning 10 F1 constructors’ titles and helping some of the driving legends like Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen and Sebastian Vettel, win over 150 Grands Prix races in 27 countries. Newey provides a pit-stop view of the races, paddock personalities and their power plays, quirks, and gamesmanship, as well as insights into the organisation of the sport.

Born in 1958 in the British Midlands, the cradle of the sport with a rich automobile tradition such as factories producing the iconic Morris Marina, Austin Allegro, and Norton Commando, Fort Dunlop and Pirelli Burton tires, Newey was always attracted to the circuit. After lacklustre schooling, he obtained an aeronautics and astronautics degree from Southampton University in 1980. His final year project was ‘ground effect aerodynamics as applied to a sportscar’, the subject of his passion and something he could show to prospective employers. Harvey Postlethwaite of Fittipaldi Automotive engaged him, just as the sport was waking up to the possibilities of wind-tunnel model simulations in racing chassis design.

If you thought that F1 race cars are designed from the ground up or for that matter, front to back, you are mistaken. Specifications issued by F1 Association aimed to ensure that all teams build on the same foundation, and use contractual tires supplied by a single tire company ( Now Pirelli for both 60% model wind-tunnel and racing circuit front and rear tires.) In order to ensure a level playing field between the grandee teams such as Ferrari, Lotus, Alfa Romeo, Honda etc. who built both the chassis and the engine, and the ‘garagistes’ like Fittipaldi, FOA was formed in the 1970s. BC Ecclestone employed collective bargaining methods with owners, teams etc. only to run it as a personal fiefdom until recently. Newey’s life work has been an extended, though modified college project, given engine, tires, and driver to conform to association regulations on a tight budget and time frame. Effectively, this means chassis development within the loophole of the law, in particular, to maintain tire contact with the ground part, even through braking and cornering at 4.5 g.

Teams guard their technology, trying to make it impossible for others to touch and feel the parts and though it gives them a headstart, rivals copy it all the time if a competitive advantage is perceived. Apparently, there are no enforceable intellectual property rights.

In Formula 1 car design, the engine has to be located in an ideal position, and a monocoque has to be of a certain size and shape to accommodate the driver. The cars are always designed as light as possible, so that ballast to make up to the specification weight can be put in a convenient place to obtain the desired weight distribution between the front and rear axles. Aerodynamic shaping of the car must ensure that it generates as little drag and as much downforce (negative lift) as possible in a balanced manner through cornering. The wing acts in a converse manner to that in an aeroplane, pressing the car into the ground and hence, allowing the tires to generate more grip. The vortex of air around the tires, as well as the ride height, form a key part of the aerodynamics. After that, it is ll about trying to find the right setup parameters for the car, the driver, and circuit linking together the sequence of corners that are unique to each racing track. Much of Newey’s book is taken up with the ongoing battle between designer and regulator on the effect of active (electronic controlled) and passive suspensions and regulations on diffusers, restriction of g forces and impact damage. Newey is in full flow and in the zone when engaged in race car aerodynamics. Newey’s experience with IndyCar racing registering three winners in the 1980s stood him in good stead as he progressed with his career.

Today, wind-tunnel facilities comprise a large part of a racing team’s operational expenditure, even as computational fluid dynamics modelling and all the other characteristics observed during empirical testing are analysed with a whole suite of customised software for the engineers to check every aspect of the vehicle’s handling. Materials research is not racing’s strong suit although new materials developed elsewhere are adopted.

F1 in the 1990s tended to be a battle for supremacy between McLaren and Williams. In 1996, McLaren chief Ron Dennis shrewdly poached Williams’ designer, Newey, who after a gardening leave was finally unleashed, along with Neil Oatley to produce the 1998 champion car McLaren MP4-13. With Newey’s usual focus on aerodynamic efficiency and a very clean aero look all round, the result was an ultra-compact race car.

When Ford sold its holdings in the Jaguar team to Red Bull, the energy drinks company, Newey was appointed by the latter as designer and he helped them win many world titles and build their brand reputation worldwide.

Newey loses his mojo during his winless tenure at LeytonHouse, two divorces, an Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994. The tragedy arose from an aerodynamically unstable Williams’ car in which Ayrton attempted to do things the car was not capable of doing.

Newey’s inner voice only pops up when Ayrton Senna’s death happens and again, towards the end of the book, where he feels that the spectator sport has become mainly that of competing for drivers’ and constructors’ titles. The developments on the racetrack do not benefit the general public shuffling about in family sedans. He applies his magic to design a road-going sportscar sold for a cool two million pounds each for a limited edition of Aston Martin hypercar.

My Views:

Newey is no Da Vinci. And while his ambition and mastery are achieved along with cult status, the lack of purpose in the service of something more enduring and meaningful must be frustrating. His purpose in life is an obsessive level of achievement-orientation, with F1 racing as an end in itself rewarding materially, but extracting a price.

The book should have been titled ‘Memoirs of an F1 Racing Car Chassis Designer’ as it is essentially a warts-and-all memoir laced with quintessentially British humour. Newey’s diagrams and photographs, which are presented in blue and black give a ‘period feel’.

A glossary of technical terms is included, without engine and tire related terms such as fuel efficiency, rolling resistance coefficient or wet traction. There are no book or website references. A table of F1 world champion drivers and constructors and basic circuit information with layout diagrams and the technical specifications of the models described would add value to the book.

After reading the book, I thought: With Ecclestone gone and a new dispensation at the helm, and having reached the pinnacle of success, how can F1 racing be technologically relevant in the age of AI, IoT, and autonomous navigation? The general public is an interested party, and FOA must look beyond the financial lure of the business, the image and the brand building of its sponsors to achieve beneficial outcomes in the sports aesthetic and environmental impact.

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ABOUT AUTHOR
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Aishwariya Laxmi

I’m Aishwariya. I’m passionate about writing, reading, marketing communications, books, blogging, poetry and editing. I’ve donned several hats, such as freelance journalist, copywriter, blogger and editor.

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