Sometimes your posts make me smile, SilverWilliams and McLaren were already successful before Newey came along. He was also fired at March/Leyton so he isn't that good
(Williams: 3 WDC's 4 WCC's) -BN *Patrick Head was in charge of the car when Newey was around in Williams.
(McLaren: 9 WDC's 7 WCC's) -BN *Ron Dennis was a control freak anyway.
I find it interesting that you seem to show a tendency to play down Newey's contribution.
I think it fair to say that he is generally regarded as peerless, within the trade. He is the benchmark and generally others might only approach him. Sometimes.
To present my opinion another way, if you were to ask virtually anyone concerned with F1 who they think best qualifies as F1's living genius, I'm pretty sure Newey would get a landslide vote and that most of the minority who might vote differently would do so as partisans, rather than true-gut belief.
Please do not take this as a slight upon Vettel. It is not. Vettel is a great driver; of that there can be little doubt. However, he and Newey have decided to tie their contracts for good reason. Vettel's driving style is something Newey can exploit, whilst Newey's genius as a designer is something Vettel exploits. In a sense, it's a marriage of convenience; a complimentary arrangement; and a very powerful one. Although of course, there are differences, the collective thinking is essentially similar to how Schumacher achieved domination.
This type of ground-base should not be under-estimated and when it comes to the sharp end of F1, is forever the envy of others. I'm sure you'd agree no driver on the grid would be disappointed to discover suddenly that Newey would be designing his/her car…