They point to the fact that his reputation has been built at Williams and McLaren. They are teams that were on the up when he joined them, needing only a little bit of extra flair to take the step that made them the best. Yet it is difficult to exaggerate the difference Newey made when he joined McLaren on 1 August, 1997. Newey is not the only star designer in the sport. His secret is making the most efficient aerodynamics work well alongside things like suspension and ride.
Many designers can work out how to pile a load of downforce on to a car.
Newey's genius comes from doing this without sacrificing other things. This was the magic ingredient Newey added to McLaren when he joined in the summer of 1997. The result in 1998 was a car that left everyone else in F1 open-mouthed, redefining the limits of what the other teams had thought was possible. That is the sort of performance into which Jaguar hopes it is buying. Adrian is the best.