Constantly picking the mind of the four-time world champion — as well as later climbing into the cockpit himself during classic racing events such as the Monaco Historique and the Goodwood Festival of Speed — is perhaps how Newey began to develop a “feel” of what a driver experiences inside the cockpit — information he then uses to alter his designs to make sure the car and its pilot piece together.

“Very often, different drivers will be more sensitive to different areas,” Newey has previously told RacingNews365.com. “For example, Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen have one thing in common, in that they are both very sensitive to the tyres. Other drivers, like Mark Webber for instance, were very sensitive to aerodynamic changes, and Max is as well.

“With the driveability of the engine, some drivers are more sensitive than others, so you get different bits of feedback from different drivers and then piece it all together. Theoretically, you could argue that with all the sensors on the car, and all the simulation tools we have to derive from the sensors, then we shouldn’t need the feedback of a human.

“But, the human feedback is vital as the human is the controller, the sensitivity and feeling and ability to express that is key. It is not a machine-driven vehicle.”

This driver feedback-led system of design has arguably long been the basis behind Newey’s success, as almost every one of his title-winning drivers have given near-enough the same reply when asked about what makes the greatest F1 designer of all time so special.

After Prost and Williams claimed both world championships in 1993, the banning of active suspension, traction control and other driver aids for 1994 — devices that had been central to the team’s dominance in the years before — forced the team to slip drastically in the early stages of the season, with the newly signed Ayrton Senna failing to finish his first two races in the FW16 before suffering a fatal crash at Imola.

Yet, despite being partly blamed for the accident and facing criminal charges as a result, Newey found a way to overcome the odds and help Williams back to race-winning and constructors’ title success with Damon Hill at the helm. Once again, the key to this resurgence — as the Briton points out — was understanding how the entire package suited the driver.

“Adrian Newey is an extraordinary human being,” said Hill. “Ultimately, what makes him unique is his personal attention; he has a careful and profound vision of what it means to be a driver driving a car.

“People always say he is the wizard of aerodynamics, and indeed he is: but his great ability is to understand the whole package. He has expertise on the suspension, the engine and, above all, on the driver. He is good at assessing the whole and knows that only by considering everything can the best result be achieved.”

Jacques Villeneuve, who claimed the drivers’ title for Williams in 1997, gave almost an identical rendition of his experience with Newey in his corner.

“He was amazing because I guess he can visualize the car, he can see it, he can see the airflow,” said the Canadian. “And he relates to it but he also relates to the driver. He knows it’s not a computer driving. He knows it’s not a robot. So even if on the data, the numbers say this is how quick it could be, maybe a driver cannot drive it. It doesn’t feel natural.

“He’s able to accept that and work around and work with a driver. And that’s why he’s made so many amazing cars. He is definitely the best out there, and he has always been able to reinvent himself.”

Even in the modern era of F1 — where simulators and an abundance of data collected from hundreds of sensors should prove dominant in telling designers where their cars need improvement — Newey’s driver bond remains superlative, even with those who don’t become world-beaters.

Alex Albon joined Red Bull halfway through his rookie campaign in 2019, but even amid his on-track struggles — which later caused him to be dropped from the team at the end of 2020 — the Thai driver was a constant source of information for Newey.

“He was very connected to the driving side. He really wanted to know how it felt. I think in some ways, he still understood that the car needs to be set up a certain way to get the most out of it.

“His office is opposite Christian’s, so I’d always go to see him. I was more involved with that kind of stuff speaking with Adrian during 2021, when I was more of a sim guy, trying to fix some of the issues we had in 2020, the same kind of things understanding philosophies and what areas he needs to focus on.

“If it was something that he felt was important, he’d always come and speak to me after a Sunday and want my opinion about it, which was nice to have that relationship with someone who’s obviously so influential.”

Since announcing his stunning exit from Red Bull earlier this year — which will take effect ahead of the 2025 season — Newey has been linked with numerous rival outfits including Williams, Ferrari and Aston Martin.

The move to the latter two teams would arguably create the most intriguing headlines, as it would unite the most successful F1 designer of all time with either Lewis Hamilton (who is Maranello-bound for 2025) or Fernando Alonso (who recently signed a new deal to stay with the Silverstone outfit until at least 2026).

Like many of the world champions before them, both drivers have spoken very highly of Newey and the potential to work with him in the seasons to come — should either of their teams be able to secure his signature.

“He’s got such a great history, track record, and has obviously just done an amazing job through his career, in engaging with teams and the knowledge he has,” Hamilton said. “I think he would be an amazing addition. I think they’ve [Ferrari] already got a great team, they’re already making huge progress, strides forwards – their car’s quicker this year. But yeah, it would be a privilege to work with him.”

“We have a very respectful relationship,” Alonso said ahead of the 2024 Spanish Grand Prix. “I think both of us have said publicly that we admired each other; that we greatly respected each other’s work. But, apart from that, I think little else.

“He is a fierce rival, who has helped all the teams to be better; to always look for a better version of ourselves. Now that he is free, on the market, logically we would all want, or dream, of having that possibility.”

Newey’s immediate future is still clouded in question marks, but after reports of him house-hunting in Oxfordshire, a move to Silverstone to partner Alonso at Aston Martin seems more likely than a move to Maranello — at this stage at least. Could pushing the Spaniard back to the top of the drivers’ standings be the perfect way to end a near-perfect F1 career?