Who is Pierre Wache, and is he the man to take over from Newey?

Adrian Newey has left Red Bull Racing and Pierre Waché seems like the obvious choice to take control of Red Bull's technical side. In Bahrain, GPblog.com spoke at length with the Frenchman. Who is he, and what is his role within the team?

Ahead of the 2024 Formula 1 season, GPblog sat down for an interview with Red Bull Racing's technical director. The team had already impressed on day one of the winter test and it was clear to most competitors that Red Bull, once again, would be the team to beat in 2024. Much of the conversation was about the new RB20, but it was also about the role of Waché himself.

What is Pierre Waché's role?

What exactly is Waché's role within Red Bull Racing as the team's technical director? "First of all, to make sure that we achieve the priority and make compromises, Because it's only compromise in this business. When you do one thing, you lose something else. But normally, we put in place a full system to make sure that the compromise we are doing is the correct one."

That system must soon ensure that Red Bull continues to perform when Newey leaves. There have been rumours for some time that Newey has a less important role within the team and is mainly a middleman for the people who run the team on a day-to-day basis. Those are Waché and Enrico Balbo.

Besides structuring the team, the team also needs to be motivated. However, according to Waché, they don't need much motivation. "I think they are motivated...(in the background, the press officer laughs). All the guys in the team are pushing more...Maybe I'm the more conservative person in the team. They are very aggressive, and very creative in this team. They love new stuff. It's why we are here. They love to see what they've done, what they think works."

Who is Pierre Waché?

Waché has been involved in Formula 1 since 2001. He started his career with tyre supplier Michelin before taking his first steps as a performance engineer in F1 at BMW Sauber. In 2013, Waché made the move to Red Bull Racing. He started as the Chief Engineer of Performance and was appointed as the technical director in 2018. In that role, Waché played a key role in Max Verstappen's three world titles and the two constructors' titles Red Bull Racing secured in 2022 and 2023.