Waché enjoys Verstappen: 'Thanks to him, car gets even better'

We don't often see Pierre Waché in the foreground, but Red Bull Racing's technical director is a key member of the Austrian racing team's success. As such, Waché does not speak to the media very often, but after Max Verstappen's third world title, he took a moment to praise the 26-year-old Dutchman.

While Adrian Newey is criticised from all quarters for designing the dominant RB19, Waché is the quiet force within Red Bull. The Frenchman joined Red Bull in 2013 and has been in his current technical director role since 2018. With Waché at the helm, the Milton Keynes-based team won five world titles in the past three years.

Waché - as is common knowledge - prefers not to talk about how important he himself is in the process. Speaking to De Telegraaf in Qatar, he mentioned Verstappen as an important building block. "Max is pushing us in the right direction, I really think he is a great guy. He is, without doubt, the best driver. Okay, the car is good, but he is able to squeeze everything out of it. Thanks to him, the car gets even better because he gives us very good feedback," he said. "I love working with him."

Ferrari misses out

It is not for nothing, then, that Waché was linked to Ferrari last month. Or rather, Ferrari was linked to Waché. The Italians had been keen to take over the 48-year-old top man, and in exchange, Laurent Mekies would then be allowed to start working as AlphaTauri's team boss sooner. However, Waché appeared to be less than keen on leaving Red Bull.