Michael Schumacher is considered to be one of the greatest drivers in the history of the sport. However, Christian Horner has declared that he would choose the legendary F1 designer, Adrian Newey over Michael Schumacher every time.
“Given the choice of Adrian or Michael Schumacher, I’d go for Adrian every time. It’s of that kind of magnitude.”
Michael Schumacher has always been popular among F1 fans. During the early 2000s, he dominated the sport with Ferrari as he won 5 consecutive Championships from 2000. Before going to Ferrari, he won 2 Championships with the Benetton F1 team in 1994 and 1995.
No matter who we support in F1 today, we cannot ignore the benchmark Schumacher has created in F1. However, this benchmark was met by Lewis Hamilton in 2020. Although Hamilton did come close to superseding it, he was unable to do so in 2021. Hamilton signed a contract extension with the team until 2025 to try and do so.
On this day in 2005, Red Bull Racing announced the signing of Adrian Newey 🐐
Christian Horner back then: “Given the choice of Adrian or Michael Schumacher, I’d go for Adrian every time. It’s of that kind of magnitude.”
[@F1icom] #F1 pic.twitter.com/kZhDBbbkxS
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) November 8, 2023
While there is no doubt that Schumacher has been successful in the sport, so has Adrian Newey. The British car designer has been in the field of F1 since the 1980s. He has been Red Bull’s car designer since 2006 and has helped the team win 7 Championships so far. It looks as though he will continue to help the team for years to come.
Christian Horner and Adrian Newey have worked together ever since Newey joined the team. Together, they have built a solid base for Red Bull to work on. This has helped them in recent years as they dominate the 2023 season and look to dominate the upcoming 2024 season as well.
How many Championship-winning cars has Adrian Newey designed?
Although Adrian Newey has seen a tremendous amount of success with Red Bull, he has won several Championships with other teams as well. During the early 1990s, Newey worked with Williams Racing to develop their car. He helped the team win in 1992, 1993 and 1996. Although Newey left Williams in 1996, the team continued to use his designs to win the 1997 Championship as well.
For the 1997 season, Adrian Newey was recruited by Ron Dennis at McLaren. He once again continued his mastery as he helped the team win the 1998 and 1999 Championships. After this, the team was not able to beat Ferrari and Michael Schumacher.
Newey left McLaren in 2006 to join Red Bull. However, once again, Newey’s creations were used by McLaren to win the 2008 Championship. They also won the 2007 Championship but were disqualified from the WCC.
On this day in 2005, Red Bull Racing announced the signing of Adrian Newey 🐐
Christian Horner back then: “Given the choice of Adrian or Michael Schumacher, I’d go for Adrian every time. It’s of that kind of magnitude.”
[@F1icom] #F1 pic.twitter.com/kZhDBbbkxS
— RBR Daily (@RBR_Daily) November 8, 2023
Adrian Newey’s cars have helped various drivers win a total of 13 WDCs and teams win a total of 12 WCCs. This number is double what Michael Schumacher has won. There is also the concept of age. As an F1 driver, you can only perform at your best until you reach your 40s at best. Fernando Alonso is probably an exception here. However, Adrian Newey continues to develop some of the best designs at the age of 64.
Unlike F1 drivers, Technical Directors do not have any age limit. F1 drivers can race in F1 for around 20 years. However, designers like Newey can help teams win Championships for over 40 years. This is probably why Christian Horner would choose Newey over Schumacher every time. However, the combination of Schumacher and Newey in the same team could prove to be legendary. Unfortunately, we were not lucky enough to witness such a powerful combination.