Ahead of the season opener, Red Bull has revealed that former chief engineer, performance, Pierre Wache has been promoted to the role of technical director.

Frenchman Wache, first entered F1 in 2001 with Michelin, working for the tyre manufacturer's R&D unit he was promoted in 2005 to the role of group leader of adherence and simulation.

In 2007, following Michelin's departure from F1, he joined BMW-Sauber, first as vehicle performance engineer, then by 2012 he was head of the Swiss outfit's technical committee, responsible for race engineering and head of the vehicle performance group.

In 2013 he moved to Red Bull where he was chief engineer, performance engineering and now the Frenchman is promoted to the newly created role of technical director.

Though he is involved in numerous projects, design guru Adrian Newey remains a significant part of the Red Bull F1 team, the Briton attending last week's test at Barcelona.

Meanwhile, the roles of chief engineering officer, Rob Marshall, head of aerodynamics, Dan Fallows, and chief engineer for car engineering, Paul Monaghan, remain unchanged.

"It's part of our evolution," said Christian Horner, according to Motorsport.com. "Adrian remains CTO (chief technical officer), Pierre has moved into a central role as technical director, and Rob Marshall's position remains unchanged as chief engineering officer."

Wache obtained his PhD in fluid mechanics at the Institut National Poltytechnique de la Lorraine and it is clearly thought his experience in tyres and mechanics will be the perfect compliment to Newey's aerodynamics genius.

"I understand what this position represents, and the risk that comes with it, Wache told L'Equipe. "I won't say it scares me, but I know the results that are asked with it. And I would like to show that I'm capable of achieving them.

"I won't change everything, but I will necessarily work differently. Adrian worked more on the aerodynamic side of things, and I'm more focused on putting the power down on the ground."