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Jolyon Palmer has snubbed Adrian Newey in his verdict on the ‘benchmark’ F1 team principal when it comes to technical understanding, instead naming the founder of Lotus Cars, Colin Chapman, as the most groundbreaking designer in the sport’s history.
Adrian Newey is widely regarded as one of the best designers in F1 history, given the endless list of accolades that he has accrued since joining the sport in the early 1980s.
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At the forefront of his achievements are the 12 constructors’ championships his creations have won, as well as the 14 drivers’ championships that have etched names such as Alain Prost, Mika Hakkinen, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen into the history books.
Of course, several key figures worked in F1 before Newey’s time, who helped pave the way for the British aerodynamacist to become the man he currently is in the paddock, with Jolyon Palmer recently recounting the innovative exploits of Colin Chapman.
Jolyon Palmer explains why Colin Chapman is the technical ‘benchmark’ in F1 history
In a recent column for Formula1.com, Palmer was asked to build his perfect team principal from the pool of highly successful bosses who have made a name for themselves inside the F1 paddock.
After opting for the political prowess of Christian Horner and the business mind of Toto Wolff, the topic of technical understanding came up. Despite Palmer noting that Newey has a ‘storied history’ as a designer, he instead named Chapman as his choice.
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He wrote, “Some, including Brawn and now Adrian Newey, have a storied history in terms of designing successful cars as well, but I’ve rolled back the decades and gone for Colin Chapman’s technical understanding and innovation as the benchmark.
“Chapman was a pioneer who led Team Lotus to seven Constructors’ Championships in an era of fast-moving, almost unregulated development.
“He was a trailblazer both in aggressive weight saving methods and the introduction of aerodynamics – both still fundamentals of Formula 1 cars today.
“A team principal has to push his engineering team to innovate in much tighter spheres in today’s world, but with both his technical understanding and vision, he’d be the man for the job.”
Adrian Newey once described Colin Chapman as his ‘hero’
Of course, Chapman’s technical prowess paved the way for the current crop of designers, including Newey, who continue to push the limits of innovation in F1.
The 67-year-old has previously detailed how the founder of Lotus was one of his first sources of inspiration, revealing how flattered he was to hear comparisons between himself and Chapman during a 2010 interview with The National.
He said, “I don’t really think about those sorts of comparisons, although obviously it’s flattering to even be mentioned in the same breath as Colin Chapman because, as a boy, he was my absolute hero. And like him, I’ve always enjoyed being creative.”
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