F1 | Here’s how Newey’s departure from Red Bull Racing affected him

After a stormy winter, it was announced at the start of the Formula 1 season that Adrian Newey would be leaving Red Bull Racing. The 65-year-old designer is no longer involved in the development of the cars and in recent months has focused mainly on the RB17 hypercar and its promotion.

He can still be found on track at race weekends and Red Bull says he contributes to strategy, but no longer to the car or its set-up. This raises the question of how much the Milton Keynes team misses Newey and to what extent he has changed day-to-day practice.

Without Newey, the way of working has not changed

“Adrian’s comments and advice have obviously been very helpful for us. As in all business and life, you have to look forward, but I don’t want to take anything away from what he has done for the team or what he has meant to me personally,” revealed Technical Director Pierre Waché in an exclusive interview with the Dutch edition of Motorsport.com. “He has a huge amount of experience, he is very intelligent and very successful. But we are where we are. Our daily routine hasn’t changed, apart from the fact that nobody looks down on us anymore and says: ‘Have you thought about this or that?’ But fundamentally nothing changes in what we do.”

This underlines exactly what Max Verstappen previously pointed out: Newey was first and foremost a good sparring partner and someone who could challenge the technical team with his experience and knowledge.

There is also the question of how much Newey is still involved in the design and development of the RB20, this year’s Red Bull Racing car. “I think less than before, although he was obviously still involved and part of the team. But in a team it’s not really who does what. You work as a group to achieve a certain goal. That’s the same with any activity, you don’t say ‘he did 10% and he did 20%’. No, that’s not how you work. Everyone has the intention of making a better car and, based on their role and function within the company, they try to do the best they can. That’s how we work and even if one person is gone, we continue to do it.”

Red Bull: The real limit is the facilities, not the people

Waché added that he was pleased with Red Bull’s technical staff, with the Milton Keynes team having renewed the contracts of Enrico Balbo, Ben Waterhouse and Waché himself earlier this year.

“Absolutely,” he replies when asked if he is satisfied with the current technical team. “If we are not satisfied with something, of course we try to change it or compensate for it. As far as I am concerned, I am not perfect in my role, just as no one is perfect in life. And of course, you should never think of being perfect. On the contrary, you have to bring people together to compensate for your weaknesses, that is how it should be. I expect and see that all the people below me are better than me in certain things, to compensate for what I am not good at. We are a group and it is not that one is weaker than another. No, everyone has strengths and bringing them together is the most important thing. There is no group where one individual does everything. It is about how all the individuals work together.”

Interestingly, Waché sees the tools at Red Bull as a limit rather than the people, in a way, even after Newey left. “It’s true that you are always limited in everything you do. What we have created depends on the people and so, in a way, you are always your own limit. We work every day to raise that ceiling. If you use the tools in the right way, at a certain point those tools become your ceiling.”

According to the 49-year-old Frenchman, this is what happens at Red Bull to a certain extent. “It can be simulation. Even if we are better than others in some aspects, we still have to improve in other aspects. The wind tunnel is one of those aspects,” and Waché already says it is a bit outdated. “That is why we are starting to develop a new wind tunnel for the next few years. The company is giving us this opportunity by providing us with funds and we are very grateful for that. It is an investment in our future performance.”

Waché concludes by clarifying that, as important as technology is today, people will always be the most important factor. “People are always the most important thing, but as in any organization, if you don’t have the tools, people can’t do anything. It’s about combining the two and the success of Red Bull Racing depends on the combination of these two factors,” he concludes.