According to Ralf Schumacher, the decline of the RB20 mainly shows that technical director Pierre Waché is not up to the task of getting Red Bull back to the top. The German states that the Frenchman is skilled enough to tackle the problems, but also sees that it has not been successful so far.
The Austrian team has already lost the lead in the constructors’ standings to McLaren, but Max Verstappen still leads the drivers’ championship. That’s a tough job, because McLaren does have the fastest car. For the time being, Verstappen’s lead is still 52 points, but Red Bull must come up with better material if Verstappen wants to be able to defend his lead. This must come from Waché, who as technical director is responsible for the RB20.
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Team suffers from loss of leaders
Adrian Newey has been pulling his hands off the car since the Japanese Grand Prix and so it comes down to the ideas of Waché and his team. Schumacher has little confidence in this, because the racing team has not yet managed to turn the tide. “I think the team is suffering from the departure of some people or the fact that some want to leave. It is not so easy to replace such people,” Schumacher added. Sport.de about the various names that have now found their way to the exit.
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Waché cannot (yet) fill Newey’s shoes
Waché has to get up now, but Schumacher doesn’t see that happening yet. “I have the feeling and it may be that this feeling is not correct, that [Waché] is not up to the task. He’s certainly a brilliant thinker, but he doesn’t have the flair to do it in the same way as Newey. It seems he lacks the ability to bridge the gap between the driver and an optimal car,” Schumacher explained.
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Red Bull is going in the wrong direction
The next race is in Austin and Red Bull will arrive there with an update package. Schumacher has no confidence in that: “I really hope that Red Bull will get it back on track, but I can’t quite imagine that yet. I have the feeling that difficult times are coming, especially if Max Verstappen really leave, because we saw him again in the last race [in Singapore] single-handedly made a difference.”
