Pierre Wache overrode Adrian Newey's suggestions for Red Bull RB20 during the design process: Reports

Red Bull technical director Pierre Wache reportedly overrode Adrian Newey's suggestions regarding the development of the RB20 during the design process. Ahead of the 2024 Miami GP, it was announced that the 65-year-old would be leaving the Austrian team after 19 years with them and had stopped working on the F1 car immediately.

Many in the motorsport were left shocked by Newey's decision as the Milton-Keynes outfit are currently experiencing a dominant phase in the sport ever since the beginning of the new regulations. They had won all but one race in the entire 2023 campaign, with the RB19 becoming the most successful car of all time.

As reported by Formu1a.uno, Adrian Newey wasn't particularly happy with the development direction taken by Pierre Wache as the latter wanted to change the aero-mechanical compromise to gain performance in the low to medium-speed corners while not giving up performance in the high-speed sections.

He, along with his team, overrode the aero wizard's suggestion of not introducing 'shark inlets' for cooling on the side of the halo of the RB20. It was rumored that Adrian Newey's influence in the Red Bull RB20 was less than the previous years, with team principal Christian Horner even hinting that the former wasn't actively involved in the day-to-day development.

The world champions are currently struggling in the 2024 season against the likes of McLaren and Mercedes and have not been able to challenge them on pure performance in the last couple of races.

Red Bull advisor gives his take on the upgrade package ahead of Hungary

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has stated that he is thankful that the team is introducing a new upgrade package for Budapest this weekend as they have been struggling to match their rivals on track.

In his column for Speedweek, the Austrian wrote:

"Thank God there is an update in Budapest and we hope that this will take us a step forward. If you look at the upcoming races, you can say that Budapest is a rather slow track and Spa is one of Max's favorite tracks, where he has always been exceptionally good.

"One thing is certain: the update has to work because we are currently behind McLaren in terms of our base - and if you look at the race in England, also behind Mercedes. It is of course crucial to get into the right temperature window, but the Red Bull is still not the fastest car at the moment and we need to correct that with the update," he added.

Despite some lackluster races, Red Bull are leading both driver's and constructor's championships at the halfway points of the 2024 season against their rivals Ferrari, McLaren, and Mercedes.