Newey: “I almost left F1 after Senna’s death”

In an interview with the daily newspaper The Guardian, Adrian Newey reflects on the passing of Ayrton Senna on May 1, 1994. The current technical director of the Red Bull team admits he was close to leaving the sport after the death of the Brazilian champion while driving one of his cars.

« The little hair I had fell out immediately, » explains Newey. « It changed me physically. It was terrible. Patrick Head and I asked ourselves whether we wanted to continue in the competition. Did we want to be involved in a sport where people can die in something you have designed? »

The Englishman admits to having considered all possible causes for the accident over the past 17 years. « If you look at the footage, particularly from Schumacher’s car, Senna’s car doesn’t understeer, it oversteers. This is not consistent with a broken steering column. The rear of the car went off, and the data suggest what happened. The question is, why did the rear go off? The car seemed to struggle more to go full throttle on this second lap, which is unusual because the tire pressure should have been better, leading you to think that the right rear tire probably hit debris on the track. If I had to choose a cause, it would be this one, » recounts Newey.

Seventeen years after the Brazilian’s demise, Adrian Newey admits that the memory of the triple world champion still haunts him. And when asked if he has seen the documentary on Ayrton Senna (scheduled for release in France on May 25), he replies: « No. It wouldn’t be something easy.