Following the departure of legendary aerodynamicist Adrian Newey, Red Bull began facing a range of problems. Whether that’s purely coincidental or a reflection of how much the technical team is missing the greatest car designer in F1 history, one can only speculate from the outside.
Until Newey confirmed his exit on May 1, 2024, Verstappen had won four of the first five races. After that, the Dutchman managed just five wins for the remainder of the season—highlighting clear gaps in development.
Still, Verstappen clinched the championship. He hobbled through races, struggled with the RB20’s balance, but consistently finished just well enough to maintain his lead and secure title no.4. The issue, however, was that Red Bull’s performance decline may have been masked by Verstappen’s brilliance.
Red Bull may have hoped those struggles would quietly fade from view, but the dismal start to 2025 has made that impossible. With the team now showing signs of slipping into midfield territory, alarm bells are ringing—and the top brass is under serious pressure.
So, who will come up with a solution to salvage Red Bull’s immediate future? It should be Pierre Wache, since he heads the technical team. But Dutch journalist Jack Plooij doesn’t think the Frenchman has things under control.
“The big thing what’s happening now at Red Bull is that Adrian Newey has left. There is a French guy called, we call him Hache, but it’s Wache, Pierre Wache, and he is a typical Frenchman. So his head is exploding because he’s not going to solve the problem,” the Dutch expert said on the Red Flags podcast.
“Adrian Newey could solve the problem,” Plooij added.
Technical director Pierre Wache describes Red Bull’s testing as “not as smooth as we expected” ahead of the Australian Grand Prix pic.twitter.com/2PoJgRLA3u
— Sky Sports F1 (@SkySportsF1) March 3, 2025
But Newey isn’t there anymore. The 66-year-old joined Aston Martin to lead the team to new heights. So either Wache solves the issues, or Red Bull makes changes, which could be on the horizon considering they held an emergency meeting in the aftermath of the Bahrain.
Plus, with Red Bull’s on-track woes worsening, discussions around a potential Verstappen exit have resurfaced. There’s widespread speculation about Mercedes or Aston Martin approaching the 27-year-old, although Jack Plooij believes Verstappen will at least see out the rest of the season to evaluate whether Red Bull can turn things around.
If they fail to provide answers, Plooij feels the four-time world champion will seriously consider switching teams. Given his stature, Verstappen is unlikely to be short of suitors.
However, former F1 presenter Will Buxton doesn’t see him joining anyone but Aston Martin. His reasoning is simple: Verstappen would only leave Red Bull if he gets the chance to work with Adrian Newey and drive a Honda-powered car again. Since Aston Martin will have both in 2026, Buxton believes it’s the only move that truly “makes sense” for him.
