Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache says the team's organisation hasn't changed following Adrian Newey's withdrawal from all Formula 1 technical matters.
Newey has still been seen on the team's pit wall as a strategist and has focused on his RB17 hypercar project in recent months, but his days of consulting the Milton Keynes team on its car designs have been over for several months now.
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The news of the talismanic designer deciding to leave the team was perceived as a huge blow, and an equally big coup for whichever outfit is able to land him next, with Aston Martin believed to be in pole position to snap him up in 2025.
Speaking to Autosport, the team's technical director Wache has outlined what has changed at Red Bull and how the squad had already prepared for life beyond Newey.
"Clearly the feedback and advice from Adrian were very beneficial for us," Wache said.
"I don’t want to dismiss what he did for the team and what he did for myself personally. He is a massively experienced person, very smart and very successful.
"However, now we are where we are. Our daily job didn’t change fundamentally besides that we don’t have anyone looking over our shoulder anymore and saying: ‘Hey guys, did you think about this or that?’
"Fundamentally it doesn't change what we are doing."
When asked how big Newey's input was on this year's RB20, Wache said: "I think it was less than before, but he was still involved and part of the team in his position for the RB20.
"But you’re a team, so you don’t count who is doing what exactly. You move as a group towards something, towards a common goal."
The Frenchman explained Red Bull had already been preparing for life without the 65-year-old, putting in place a team with strong technical leaders like head of aerodynamics Enrico Balbo and head of performance engineering Ben Waterhouse, both of whom signed new contracts earlier this year.
"The organisation didn’t change because we were already organised to be able to deal without his input, because it has happened in the past that he was a bit less present at some times than at other times," Wache pointed out.
"The main aspect is [that his input is] not there anymore, but the organisation didn’t change and you just have to deal without his input.
"We organise ourselves with a full technical team to cope and to look forward, not to look backwards.
"I speak for myself now. The main thing is that you should never think that you are perfect. You try to employ people around you to compensate for your weakness, that’s how it should be.
"I hope and it’s what I see that all the people below me are better than me in some aspects, to compensate for what I am not able to do myself.
"We are a group and a bond, everyone has their strengths and being able to work together is the most important aspect. A group with one individual doing everything doesn’t exist, it’s about all individuals that work together."
