Nelson Piquet Jr reveals why Red Bull were struggling to hire staff while Christian Horner was in charge

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Red Bull delivered a bombshell news story to the Formula 1 world in the days after the British Grand Prix when they sacked longtime team principal Christian Horner.

Having brought the team from being midfield stragglers to world champions in the last 20 years, the team reached their peak in 2023 when Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez won every race apart from one on the 22-race calendar.

But in the last two years, that success has been marred by controversy and a change of three drivers, as well as uncertainty over their chances in 2026.

Verstappen’s camp wanted Horner to relinquish some of his responsibilities to focus on their performance on track, but amid a power struggle with Red Bull’s Austrian owners, he was getting support from the Thai majority owners up until recently.

Red Bull’s Thai owners reportedly greeted Horner coldly at the Austrian GP, after the team finished last at their home race with Yuki Tsunoda. A combination of decisions made in the last 12 months, including a massive payout for Sergio Perez and several of Red Bull’s senior staff leaving, have gone against Horner.

Discussing the situation on the Pelas Pistas podcast, former F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr also highlighted another knock-on effect from the internal battle happening at Red Bull.

Red Bull struggled to hire key staff with Christian Horner at the team

Hiring the right talent in F1 is key to unlocking performance on track, and Red Bull had some of the best on the grid including Adrian Newey and Rob Marshall.

But after those two left, their performance on track started to slump and now they are facing their worst finishing position since 2015 in the Constructors’ Championship. To rescue the situation, Red Bull made the decision to sack Horner to attract the staff they want according to Piquet Jr.

“What’s the reason they are struggling to keep Max? I heard it’s they have difficulty bringing some key people back or hiring. Because some didn’t like the team environment. Those little problems came up between him and Max’s father. In a way, it bothered some people, and for them to bring the people they want back, some felt that, with Christian there, it would be more difficult,” said Piquet.

“That’s what people have been saying. It was about sharing tasks a little bit more and Horner didn’t want to do that. He wanted to maintain control over everything, both teams, over the engines; he wanted to be in control of everything. But for him it was a win-win situation.

“If he gets all the power, for him, it’s a huge moral issue. And if he doesn’t, he gets a huge amount of money, almost 100 million dollars. Maybe part of that is psychological, so they can get rid of him and hire this list of people back. It’s not just because of Max.”

Max Verstappen not guaranteed to stay at Red Bull

The decision to sack Horner can be seen to appease Verstappen, whose £47m-a-year contract has an array of release clauses that could free the 27-year-old earlier than their planned 2028.

Verstappen is reportedly in talks with Mercedes over a potential move to the team as early as 2027, where he would likely replace one of their current drivers.

Toto Wolff has expressed interest in wanting Verstappen, having missed out on getting him before he made his F1 debut in 2015.

Horner’s exit from Red Bull could put some confidence back into the Verstappen camp in negotiations, as the team does not have a direct replacement for the four-time world champion lined up.