Legendary engineer Adrian Newey is to be the subject of a new documentary movie that will see the production company co-founded by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck collaborate with Newey’s Aston Martin Formula 1 team, along with the award-winning Whisper Group and Mark Stewart Productions.
With a working title of Turbulence: The Greatest Mind In Formula One, the film will be part documentary, part biopic, intercutting behind-the-scenes insight on Newey’s current project – guiding Aston Martin towards the front of the grid – with storytelling from his eventful past.
Newey’s 45-year career in motorsport began when he joined the Fittipaldi Automotive F1 team as a graduate trainee in 1980, and encompasses spells in sportscars and IndyCar, as well as frontline Formula 1.
Cars bearing his authorial stamp have won 14 drivers’ championships, but there have been extraordinary lows as well as highs: he watched his Leyton House CG901 nearly win the 1990 French Grand Prix on television, having been fired by the team; and after Ayrton Senna’s death in 1994 he was among the senior Williams staff dragged through the Italian courts.
His move to Aston Martin earlier this year has been the subject of feverish interest given the team’s struggle for competitiveness since being bought by a consortium led by Lawrence Stroll in 2019. The film will feature exclusive behind-the-scenes footage from the team’s new technology campus outside Silverstone.
US interest in F1 has been building throughout the decade, built on the popularity of the Netflix series Drive To Survive and boosted in recent months by Apple’s blockbuster F1: The Movie. Apple recently concluded a five-year deal to stream F1 races believed to be worth $150million per year.
Affleck and Damon getting involved via their production company Artists Equity is part of a wider pattern of US investment, including Liberty Media’s acquisition of F1’s commercial rights and an investment group involving the likes of actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B Jordan buying into the Alpine team.
Businessman Gerry Cardinale, co-founder of Artists Equity with Affleck and Damon, is also the founder and managing partner of Redbird Capital, which is part of the consortium which took a 24% stake in Alpine in 2023.
The Turbulence project’s other collaborators come with impeccable F1 credentials. Whisper was co-founded by ex-F1 driver David Coulthard and presenter Jake Humphrey, and has won awards for its production work in F1 and other sports. Mark Stewart is the youngest son of three-time champion Sir Jackie and winner of a Royal Television Society award for the docu-series Gazza.
"When Mark Stewart approached me about making a docu film, while flattered I was initially not sure whether to accept,” said Newey.
“However, one of the touching things about my 2017 autobiography is the number of letters I have received, relaying how much the book had sparked their interest in and appreciation of the design and engineering that goes into racing cars, how interactive the car design is with the drivers, and how much success is about mindset.
"Hopefully this film can portray the passion, the working practice, the strength of mind that is involved in bringing an F1 car to the grid. The film charts the challenges I have faced in joining a new team in early March to prepare for what is arguably the biggest regulation change in F1 history. It also delves into the story behind my career up to this point and how it has helped to prepare me for this enormous challenge.
"It's been a wild ride so far, but F1 never stands still. I hope that the film will capture some of that restless energy, and our constant drive towards improved performance."
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