Red Bull reveal 'main difference' after Newey departure

Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché has explained that the imminent departure of Adrian Newey "doesn't change anything", despite the fact a "very successful" individual is being lost. 

Newey will officially leave Red Bull early next year but has already stepped back from his role as the team's chief technical officer. Until he departs, the designer is focusing on Red Bull's RB17 hypercar.

The 65-year-old has been responsible for designing all of Red Bull's title winning cars, with the outfit having claimed six constructors' championships and seven drivers' titles.

He is undoudebtly a significant figure in the Red Bull camp, although his imminent departure has changed little, according to Waché.

"Adrian's feedback and advice were of course hugely beneficial to us," Waché told Motorsport.com's Dutch site. 

"As in any business and as in life, you have to look ahead, but I don't want to take anything away from what he has done for the team, nor from what he has meant for me personally.

"He has a huge amount of experience, is very smart and very successful. But we are where we are. 

"Our day-to-day operations haven't really changed, except that nobody is looking over our shoulder anymore and saying, 'Have you thought about this or thought about that?' But fundamentally, it doesn't change anything about what we do."

Role at RB20

Since the announcement at the start of May that Newey would leave the Milton Keynes-based team early next year, his involvement with the F1 team and the development of the RB20 has decreased.

However, as outlined by Waché, Red Bull's work ethic has not changed, with the entire team working towards the same goal.

"I think it was less than before, although of course he was still involved and was part of the team," said Waché. 

"But as a team, you don't count exactly who does what. You work as a group toward a certain goal.

"That's true for any company. You don't say, 'He did ten percent and he did 20 percent.' No, that's not how you work. 

"Everybody has the intention to make a better car and based on your role and your function within the company you try to do the best you can. That's how we work and if one person is no longer there, we still do it."

Red Bull has dealt with Newey taking a step back from the F1 outfit before so is used to working without his presence. 

As significant as Newey's departure is, Red Bull as a company has not changed and neither has the way the team works, as a method was already in place for life without the designer.

"The organisation in itself has not changed because we were already organised in a way that we could work without his input," continued Waché. 

"That has happened in the past too, that he was less present at some times than at other times. 

"The main difference is that his input is no longer there now, but the organisation in itself has not changed. We just have to do without his input."