Ralf Schumacher believes a key Red Bull figure could simply not be up to the job demanded.
Ralf Schumacher believes he has identified a weak link in Red Bull's F1 chain - technical director Pierre Wache.
With Adrian Newey's resignation as chief technical officer, long-time Red Bull employee Wache has been pushed forward as the new face of the technical team, with Wache having joined the Milton Keynes-based team in 2013 from Sauber initially as chief engineer before promotion in 2018 to technical director.
Red Bull is set to bring its first full post-Newey upgrade to the United States Grand Prix, which is hopes will cure the understeer and balance problems the RB20 has experienced which has put the F1 titles in jeopardy for the team.
It currently sits 41 points behind McLaren, although Max Verstappen enjoys a 52-point lead over Lando Norris in the F1 drivers' standings.
However, six-time grand prix winner Schumacher believes Wache could potentially be a weak link.
"I think the team is suffering from some people leaving or wanting to leave, it's not so easy to replace people like that," Schumacher told Sport.De.
"I have the feeling, and it may be that this feeling is not correct, that [Wache] is not yet up to the task.
"He's certainly a brilliant thinker, but he doesn't have the flair to do it the way Newey did.
"It seems to lack the ability to bridge the gap between the driver and an optimal car.
"However, I really hope Red Bull gets the hang of it, but I can't quite imagine that yet.
"I have a feeling it's going to be a tough time, especially if Max Verstappen really were to leave since we did see again that he single-handedly made the difference in the last race [in Singapore]."
