Formula 1 News: Was the RB19 Wache’s or Newey’s?

Amanda Newey has criticized Christian Horner for saying that the Red Bull F1 car designs are Pierre Wache’s more so than Adrian Newey’s.

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Amanda is the Adrian’s wife.

In a Motorsport.com interview, Horner claimed technical director Wache was leading the design team now.

“Adrian is a big part of this team and big part of what we’ve achieved,” Horner said. “But of course, his role has evolved over the last few years and the technical team beneath him led by Pierre Wache, they’re doing a wonderful job and so that they’re not reliant on Adrian.

“He has the ability to come in, come out and work on other projects and I think that’s part of the evolution of any team.”

Amanda Newey took to Twitter (X) to voice her displeasure.

Twice she wrote “what a load of hogwash”, having previously described the suggestion from a user that the RB19 was not an Adrian Newey championship-winning car as “absolute bollocks.”

Separate quotes by Wache were also rubbished by Amanda Newey.

“He’s irreplaceable, yes – you cannot replace him!” Wache said.

“On a daily basis, he’s not part of our process. He’s more coming from the sideways and trying to help us or challenge us on different aspects.”

Horner’s suggestion was not a new one with the Red Bull stating when the team’s dynamic changed.

“It’s the perfect scenario, really, where we’ve built a machine that isn’t dependent on one individual but which enables Adrian Newey to feed in and out, to mentor, to challenge ideas and so on,” Horner told the Telegraph.

“I suppose it’s evolved over the last four or five years as Adrian has become involved in other projects. He can’t be everywhere.

“Back in 2013, he was drawing a large percentage of the aerodynamic surfaces of the car and sort of engineering at weekends and so on.

“But in a cost cap world, especially with where the regulations have gone, Adrian is able to do less anyway on the drawing board. Obviously, he’s still crucial at the concept stage.

“But, as Adrian Newey has taken on a broader role, the rest of the group has had to evolve and develop. Particularly after Adrian’s [cycling] accident in 2021, the guys really had to step up with the design of RB18.

“Pierre did a great job in doing that. On a day-to-day basis, that is Pierre’s responsibility now, his accountability. The relationship between the two of them is strong. Honestly, I think it’s the strongest engineering team we’ve ever had.”