Pierre Wache eager to make key Red Bull change once Adrian Newey leaves

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Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache has opened up on his plans to make a huge change to how the Formula 1 team works once Adrian Newey leaves Milton Keynes.

Departures have become a regular theme for Red Bull and they announced that Newey quit this May. As well as their chief technical officer departing in February 2025, sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has signed up to be the new team principal of Audi/Sauber by July 2025.

Newey and Wheatley were among the first big additions that Red Bull secured back in 2006. But they will leave Milton Keynes for pastures new, like fellow 2006 arrivals Dan Fallows and Rob Marshall. They left to join Aston Martin and McLaren in April 2022 and in January 2024.

Pierre Wache is keen to ‘change the way Red Bull work’ once Adrian Newey leaves

Yet Newey leaving his position as Red Bull’s chief technical officer will allow technical chief Wache to step up. The Frenchman has been Newey’s No2 in recent years and had to watch a lot of the praise for Red Bull and Max Verstappen’s dominance of Formula 1 go to the Briton.

Verstappen produced the most dominant Formula 1 season of all time last term en route to his third successive drivers’ championship. The Dutchman won 19 of the 22 Grand Prix, plus four of the six Sprint events. He is likely to win a fourth successive drivers’ title this year, too.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

But Wache is not looking forward to Newey leaving Red Bull as it means he will receive more of the headlines. Instead, the 2013 arrival from Sauber, where Wache acted as their head of vehicle performance, is keen to relish his chance to reshape Red Bull’s technical department.

“You don’t choose this way, you do it because you think you can change the way we work in the way you like,” Wache told PlanetF1. “And [build the team] into the way you think is more efficient and more interesting for the team for future success.

“You don’t do it for your personal glory – we have a job. The business has changed a bit but Formula 1, especially on the engineering side, is an engineering competition.”

Pierre Wache will shape Red Bull’s car under F1’s 2026 regulation changes

Wache joined Red Bull from the 2013 Formula 1 season, initially as their chief performance engineer. He later became their technical director in February 2018 and will now step up to fill Newey’s void at the top of their technical tree in Milton Keynes as Red Bull look forward.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about F1’s 2026 engine and chassis regulations

The extent of the changes Wache can introduce at Red Bull remains to be seen. But he will lead their technical department with the same steely determination that saw Ferrari target Wache before Newey’s departure, who is now deciding between Aston Martin or McLaren.

Red Bull will also hope that Wache’s extreme levels of attention to detail as a perfectionist means they hit the ground running with F1’s regulation changes for 2026. The new chassis regulations will pose a unique challenge for Wache and his team with active aerodynamics.