How to Build a Car
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Average rating4.2
'Adrian has a unique gift for understanding drivers and racing cars. He is ultra competitive but never forgets to have fun. An immensely likeable man.' Damon HillThe world's foremost designer in Formula One, Adrian Newey OBE is arguably one of Britain's greatest engineers and this is his fascinating, powerful memoir.How to Build a Car explores the story of Adrian's unrivalled 35-year career in Formula One through the prism of the cars he has designed, the drivers he has worked alongside and the races in which he's been involved. A true engineering genius, even in adolescence Adrian's thoughts naturally emerged in shape and form - he began sketching his own car designs at the age of 12 and took a welding course in his school summer holidays. From his early career in IndyCar racing and on to his unparalleled success in Formula One, we learn in comprehensive, engaging and highly entertaining detail how a car actually works. Adrian has designed for the likes of Mario Andretti, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, Damon Hill, David Coulthard, Mika Hakkinen, Mark Webber and Sebastian Vettel, always with a shark-like purity of purpose: to make the car go faster. And while his career has been marked by unbelievable triumphs, there have also been deep tragedies; most notably Ayrton Senna's death during his time at Williams in 1994. Beautifully illustrated with never-before-seen drawings, How to Build a Car encapsulates, through Adrian's remarkable life story, precisely what makes Formula One so thrilling - its potential for the total synchronicity of man and machine, the perfect combination of style, efficiency and speed.
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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 in pursuit of lap time.
A very technical book about designing fast cars, focusing towards F1 cars gradually, as it follows Newey's career. Many bits get way too detailed and technical for a fan to follow. Nevertheless, the anecdotes and the gossip are fun to read.
