Ivan Capelli (Leyton House, Formula One, 1987-90)

“From my point of view, Adrian was already very, very good. The 1988 car was the most brilliant car I ever drove even if the seat position was not very comfortable. At that time, he still had to learn quite a lot concerning details. Obviously the experience that he had before, especially at Indy, where the aerodynamics are so important, gave him a very big chance to build something for his future career.

“He is a very good man. He is always very calm, and for a driver this is really, really important. He doesn’t just look at problems from his side. What is good about Adrian is that he’s always trying to understand the meaning of what the driver is telling him, and also he tries to find solutions from other angles. He’s not just an engineer following his numbers from the wind tunnel, or that kind of thing. It’s not just mathematics, it’s also the feeling of the people and the drivers that are working with him. He is also very dedicated.

“For sure he started a new era in Formula One; he has confirmed that at Williams and at McLaren as well now. In my opinion he’s the only real genius among the Formula One technical directors.”