Piquet Jr. reveals ‘what people have been saying’ about Horner’s Red Bull sacking

Nelson Piquet Jr. says Red Bull’s decision to sack Christian Horner wasn’t “just because” of Max Verstappen despite speculation ‘Team Verstappen’ wanted him gone.

Red Bull shocked the world of Formula 1, including Horner, last week when they announced he’d been sacked as Red Bull team principal and CEO with immediate effect.

Christian Horner sacking: “It’s not just because of Max.”

‘Red Bull has released Christian Horner from his operational duties with effect from today (9 July 2025) and has appointed Laurent Mekies as CEO of Red Bull Racing,’ read the brief statement.

The team did not explain, nor, according to Martin Brundle, did they give Horner a reason.

It has led to speculation that ‘Team Verstappen’ played a critical role in the decision, as they wanted Horner to have less influence and power at Red Bull.

“Obviously Team Verstappen had been briefing certain journalists and Christian’s just come more and more under pressure, and he lost key people like Adrian Newey, like Rob Marshall, like Jonathan Wheatley,” Brundle told Sky F1’s The F1 Show.

“We don’t know what’s gone on behind closed doors, but I do know that Team Verstappen were not happy with him there.”

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It’s a sentiment echoed by former Toro Rosso co-owner Gerhard Berger.

“As we know, the Verstappens and Horner were not the best of friends,” he told Krone Zeitung, later adding: “It’s much more about stabilising the whole team at the moment and getting Max Verstappen back into it properly.”

However, Piquet Jr., the brother of Verstappen’s partner Kelly, says the decision to oust Horner wasn’t just because of Verstappen, it was also down to Horner wanting “all the power”.

That didn’t sit well, with the Brazilian claiming it cost Red Bull key personnel that they either wanted to bring back into the fold or new hires.

“What’s the reason they are struggling to keep Max?” he said on the latest Pelas Pistas podcast.

“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.

“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.”

Red Bull lost several key figures in recent years with Rob Marshall leaving the team in 2023 to join McLaren, before design legend Adrian Newey followed him out of the door last year as he called time on his 19-year stay. Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley also left to join Sauber as team principal.

This isn’t the first time Piquet Jr. has spoken about Verstappen’s situation at Red Bull as he made headlines in an earlier podcast when he claimed Verstappen would be “with” Mercedes in F1 2026.

Asked to expand on that, he said: “They are talking, everyone knows right? Just missing final contract details, but everyone knows that it’s an option. They are talking.”

“Until August,” he said of the deadline for Verstappen to make a decision on his F1 future, “he needs to have made a decision, they will either get the final details right or not. But I think it would be pretty cool.”

Read next: Max Verstappen to Mercedes? Who will drive for Red Bull in F1 2026?