Former Formula 1 driver and analyst Ralf Schumacher has expressed doubts about the current technical director of Red Bull, Pierre Waché, suggesting that he falls short of his predecessor Adrian Newey. Over the past few years, Red Bull has lost several prominent team members to rival teams, which could explain their current lack of performance. Schumacher places the blame on team boss Christian Horner.
In addition to Adrian Newey – who is now designing for Aston Martin – Red Bull lost chief designer Rob Marshall, strategist Will Courtenay, and sporting director Jonathan Wheatley. According to experts, Newey’s departure was the biggest loss. The acclaimed Brit has been designing for the Austrian racing team since its early years in 2006. Since then, the team has been in a slump; in 2024, it fell from the leading position to third place in the championship. In the current season, Red Bull is also third, trailing Lando Norris‘s McLaren by ninety-nine points.
‘Horner has outgrown his position’
“In my opinion, Pierre Waché is simply not Adrian Newey,” Ralf Schumacher told the German branch of Sky Sports. “So it’s going to be tough.” According to Schumacher, all of Red Bull’s problems started with Christian Horner; he should never have let Newey go. “Horner built the entire team, he was responsible along with Helmut Marko,” the German continued. “He should have seen this coming. Adrian Newey should never have left.”
Schumacher spoke of a ‘classic management problem’ at Red Bull. “Horner thinks to himself: ‘Things are going as they are, I don’t need Newey.’ But that’s exactly where the problem starts. Horner has outgrown his position within the team and now he has to face the consequences. With him, you always get the feeling that he wants to prove himself within the team and takes everything very seriously. I doubt whether that’s a good thing.”
