'I don't take it personally' - Red Bull tech chief responds to Adrian Newey criticism

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has agreed with Adrian Newey's controversial "lack of experience" comment about the people who, including him, inherited the Briton's workload at the team.

Given the objective truth to that element of the 66-year-old's remarks, Waché insists he does not "take it personally" and is instead focused on the performance of the Milton Keynes squad's latest F1 car, the RB21.

After Newey announced just ahead of the Miami Grand Prix in May last season he would leave the six-time constructors' champions, he stopped having day-to-day involvement in the development of the RB20.

Waché, who had worked directly under Newey since 2018, stepped into the void, along with other key technical minds Ben Waterhouse and Paul Monaghan.

Following the trip to Florida, as Red Bull's rivals closed in, eradicating its once-healthy pace advantage, the team increasingly struggled to successfully deliver upgrades to its package.

Those updates ended up introducing unfavourable characteristics, with a marked disconnect in balance between front and rear - and between conventional aerodynamics and ground effects - making the car more difficult to set up and extract maximum performance from.

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Waché agrees with Newey's 'lack of experience' claim

Earlier this year, Aston Martin-bound Newey shared what he believed to be the root of the issue, suggesting the group that previously worked for him developed the car in the wrong direction - and to the point that even Max Verstappen could no longer grapple with its problems.

Whilst Christian Horner claimed to have not seen those remarks, Waché was magnanimous when addressing them.

"It’s true that I have a lot less experience than him," he told PlanetF1.com. "He’s 66 years old, and I’m 50 – 16 years less experience than him. I cannot comment on that.

"I don’t take it personally, and maybe it’s true. It doesn’t change anything, I think what you have to learn… this type of comment, for me, doesn’t matter.

"What is important is what is true. We didn’t do a good enough job last year, and we lost ground in terms of performance – maybe by experience, maybe by misunderstanding some stuff, and we tried to correct it.

"What is correct is that it looks, for me, that we understand. I think this is how you learn the most. When we were in 2023, we learned less than last year, and every problem you have gives you a little bit more to understand what you need to do.

"In this sense, I think it was very beneficial, and it’s what I enjoy the most. Fixing a problem is our job.

"Personally, it doesn’t affect me. From my point of view, my job is not personal. My job is to make sure, in an engineering competition, I’m more affected by the fact that we are not good enough and losing, than a personal comment about myself."

Waché: 'My desire is not to make my name famous'

Whilst those comments from Newey - who further built his legacy with Red Bull - appear stinging, especially given those who replaced him worked for him previously, Waché maintains he is not interested in attaining personal acclaim himself.

Instead, his attention remains fixed on helping the team win, and recover from its recent slump, which saw it drop to third in the constructors' standings for the first time since 2019.

"My desire is not to make my name famous," the Frenchman explained. "My desire is to make the team winning. That’s it. No more than that.

"I’m paid enough to do this job and to enjoy it. I don’t need more. I would prefer that the paddock say 'the Red Bull team did a fantastic job' more than 'Pierre Waché did a good job'.

"It doesn’t change my life. I’m 50. I’m more at the end than the beginning. What we have to look at is more the young people growing into the team, bringing a lot of performance, and working hard. They do the same stuff as me, same number of hours, same stuff… we’re all together."