Reportedly, Red Bull driver Max Verstappen and his camp did not have trust in technical director Pierre Wache's abilities to solve their issues with the car. The Dutch driver and Co., which includes his father and manager, have been highly critical of the Austrian team's inability to resolve the issues that have plagued them for over a year.
The 27-year-old found himself clutching at straws in his bid to defend his drivers' championship from the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. Amid their downturn in form, the energy drink company announced that they had sacked team principal and CEO Christian Horner on Tuesday, July 9.
Max Verstappen's father and former F1 driver Jos Verstappen had been highly critical of Horner's management style and inability to resolve car troubles for some time now. As per The Race, Verstappen's camp has also been privately apprehensive about Wache's abilities to solve the car problems ever since Adrian Newey and other key personnel left the Milton Keynes-based outfit.
Wache had been a close aide of Horner, who had expressed confidence in the Frenchman's abilities after Newey's exit last year. With Laurent Mekies arriving in Horner's role from the Belgian GP, it would be interesting to see if Wache would stay in his role.
Max Verstappen comments on Christian Horner's departure from Red Bull
Red Bull driver Max Verstappen paid tribute to his former team principal, Christian Horner, after the latter was relieved of his duties as CEO and team principal post the 2025 British Grand Prix.
On his Instagram, the four-time F1 world champion posted a picture of himself hugging the Brit and wrote:
"From my first race win, to four world championships, we have shared incredible successes. Winning memorable races and breaking countless records. Thank you for everything, Christian!"
Speaking with de Telegraaf, Verstappen's manager Raymond Vermuelen also broke his silence on Horner's exit and added:
"We were informed in advance by Red Bull's management that this decision had been taken. It is up to Red Bull to give a further explanation as to the rationale. We continue to look at the sporting side and are looking for more performance so that we can return to the top. In that respect, nothing will change."
Max Verstappen was given the opportunity to race for Red Bull in the middle of the 2016 season by Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Horner was a staunch supporter of the Dutch driver and defended him vigorously from the media at multiple locations in a controversial scenario on the racetrack.
However, the relations between the duos soured a little following the tensions between Horner and Jos Verstappen at the start of the 2024 season.