Pierre Wache expands on the internal roles of him and Adrian Newey at Red Bull, as he adds on the impact of losing a legendary design guru.
Ever since the news of Newey departing Red Bull has come out, there has been much talk about it not just from within the F1 team, but also their rivals. The legend of the sport becoming a free agent is the boost that one needed in the time of one team dominance.
Even before his official end of the contract midway in 2025 season, Newey has already been linked to and or been on the shopping list of several F1 teams, whether it is Mercedes, Ferrari, McLaren, Aston Martin and even Williams for that matter.
Even though Red Bull notes about having the technical team in place at Milton Keynes, losing a person like Newey is always monumental. They may be able to replace him as a personnel, but that fear and or inspiration factor will be missing at the factory.
If not in the longer run, but at least in the short run. With the departure of Newey, it is assumed that Wache will have larger role at the factory. There were stories about the Frenchman already doing a big chunk of work but he explained how it worked at base.
“It’s difficult to say,” started Wache. “Yeah, I think you… The way we work together change around the years because depending of how the implication was done in Formula 1 and the implication on different projects he has and the team adapt based on his implication in the different project, then for sure what what we try to do is to make sure that we are exchanging together about how what the direction we are going with the car.
“I’m not sure that I can explain how we work together on a daily basis, but he’s clearly more oriented on the aero side, that clearly on this side was clearly more linked than maybe on my side, that I was more on the vehicle dynamics side, my expertise coming from there. Then for sure we exchange about how the interaction between each other was, like all the aerodynamics and vehicle dynamics people are working together.
“I don’t know if it answers your question, but it was a big part, a big name in the team. Then, for sure, we exchanged a lot, especially in terms of direction of development and in terms of how we run the weekend,” summed up Wache, who insisted that any person leaving a team has its impact and in the case of Newey, it is certainly a big loss.
While Red Bull has things in place and they are confident of continuing on smoothly, but the loss will be felt. “I think with knowing Adrian… I think everybody knows in this business, Adrian is a big man in this business and maybe the most successful engineer in F1,” said Wache. “I think it’s a big effect for us, but the team was prepared.
“It’s not like we expect him for 20 years more. We have to build the team around and make sure that we are prepared for this eventuality. We will miss his experience, for sure. Clearly, he doesn’t give away anything. He has a mentality of a racer. That is very, very nice to discuss with him on that aspect.
“Everybody has an impact. And for sure, the higher up you are, because you are the person giving the direction you have a higher impact. However, the main aspect is that in the team, the main thing you have to do is [create] the smooth working together you need to have between the different departments and the direction is clear.
“Then if you don’t lose this aspect, I think you could be in the right path. The main thing is, are you sure that the direction is correct? You will judge if some people have a big impact or not, but the main aspect of the team is to make sure that this aspect is respected,” summed up Wache, who further added on things being done to lessen the impact.
While they have things in place, only future will tell how good and effective Red Bull has been. “It’s difficult to answer that for sure,” he said. “It’s what we are planning for. It’s what we are working for. But the future will tell us after all we are in the competitive environment. As the people say, they are working hard to catch us.
“We are working hard to stay ahead. Now the team has to, and any way before it was a team effort to deliver this car. It’s not one person that delivers this car. I would say yes, we are prepared to work as a team to deliver a car after if one person leave, it’s a shame, but you know, and even more this type of person like Adrian, that is big important on it.
“But you know, we were prepared for that for sure. And I think it’s something we have to prove around the year and next year,” summed up Wache. The added pressure is the potential of Newey to join a rival F1 team as he indicated in recent times. He will take some time off, but could return at some point in the future but where is the question.
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