Red Bull have given Adrian Newey an RB5 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed to show their appreciation for his dedication to the team.
The designer, behind many great cars such as the Williams FW14, numerous championship winning McLaren’s and last years RB5 as well as this years race-winning RB6, says he is overcome by the gift.
“I’m overcome actually. The guys have obviously put a tremendous amount of effort into preparing the car for me,” said Newey.
The 51-year-old immediately put the car through its paces at the festival, wearing his own custom Red Bull helmet and overalls.
“You can see it – the paint and the lines are absolutely perfect, the work that’s gone into doing the helmet and everything else is incredible. Also, the fact that the guys have given up a weekend to come down here and run it for me is fantastic.
“I was nervous before my first run, as I’d never driven a car with a hand clutch before and had never left-foot braked expect in a go-kart – but it’s really fantastic to drive. A slight fright was that I wasn’t prepared for how long first gear is, so as I was pulling out of the paddock it was pushing me on a lot.
“I was saying to myself ‘hand clutch, hand clutch’, but the automatic reaction is to go for the left foot! We went up the hill on wet tyres, so it was a gentle drive. It’s just so great to be in the car and it’s such a great noise from the inside.
“The plan now is to club together with some other guys I know who are lucky enough to have cars and hire a circuit, preferably a modern one with a bit of run off where I can enjoy driving the car without worrying about having a spin in front of a crowd!”
Team boss Christian Horner added: “I was delighted to hand over this RB5 on behalf of Red Bull to Adrian today. It’s a really significant car for us, as it’s the first model type that won six races for Red Bull Racing last year.
“Adrian’s made a mess of his lawn with several different cars from his collection, but this one will definitely tear the grass up! Hopefully he will look after it carefully and enjoy driving it up the hill at Goodwood today.
“We’re happy to hand it over with the relevant crash helmet and overalls to make sure he’s safe; we’ve also given him a set of spares, just in case!”
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