Pierre Waché (born 10 December 1974) is a French

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

engineer. He is the technical director at the

Red Bull Racing Red Bull Racing, currently competing as Oracle Red Bull Racing and also known simply as Red Bull or RBR, is a Formula One racing team, List of Formula One constructors#Team's nationality, competing under an Austrian racing licence and based in ...

Formula One team.

Career

Waché earned a doctorate in

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

from the

National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine National Polytechnic Institute of Lorraine ( ; abbr. Lorraine INP) is a French technological university system, based in Nancy, France, Nancy. It is under the Academy of Nancy and Metz. INPL is a part of the University of Lorraine. It federates 1 ...

, specialising in bio-mechanical engineering. After graduating, he began working in 2001 for the global tyre manufacturer

Michelin Michelin ( , ), in full ("General Company of the Michelin Enterprises P.L.S."), is a French multinational tyre manufacturing company based in Clermont-Ferrand in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes '' région'' of France. It is the second largest t ...

in their Formula One programme, and was an engineer that was responsible for the interaction between tyres and track conditions for

Formula One car A Formula One car or F1 car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car, open-wheel formula racing car used to compete in Formula One racing events. It has substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine mid ...

s. At the end of 2006, Michelin left Formula One as a tire supplier, which resulted in Waché being recruited by

BMW Sauber The German automobile manufacturer/brand BMW has been involved in Formula One in a number of capacities since the inauguration of the World Drivers' Championship in . The company entered occasional races in the 1950s and 1960s (often under Form ...

as a performance engineer, working with tyres and suspension. In 2009,

BMW Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, trading as BMW Group (commonly abbreviated to BMW (), sometimes anglicised as Bavarian Motor Works), is a German multinational manufacturer of vehicles and motorcycles headquartered in Munich, Bavaria, Germany. Th ...

announced that it would leave Formula One, which resulted in Waché replacing Loïc Serra as the head of vehicle performance for Sauber. In 2013, he moved to Red Bull Racing and become the chief engineer with a focus on vehicle performance; six months later, he was appointed to succeed Mark Ellis as performance director. In 2018, he took on the role of technical director being responsible for the design and production of the car, second only to

Adrian Newey Adrian Martin Newey (born 26 December 1958) is a British engineer, aerodynamicist, automotive designer and motorsport executive. Since 2025, Newey has served as technical director and co-owner of Aston Martin in Formula One; he previously serv ...

. Following Newey's departure for Aston Martin in 2025, Waché is now responsible for the design and production of all subsequent Red Bull challengers with the RB21 being the first post-Newey designed car and the first car to be designed by him who is overseeing all aspects of the car since Newey's departure and the first Red Bull car to not be designed by Newey since the RB2.

References

1974 births Formula One engineers French motorsport people Living people Red Bull Racing Sauber Motorsport {{F1-bio-stub