16/07/2025 14:45
Former F1 driver Nelson Piquet Jr has claimed Red Bull struggled to
hire new staff due to their concerns about the team environment.
Red Bull confirmed a major managerial change last week as it
severed ties with long-time team principal Christian Horner. The
change has come amid a difficult period for Red Bull, whose
on-track struggles are coming at the same time as Max Verstappen
being linked with a move away from the team. Piquet Jr, who is the
brother of Verstappen's partner Kelly, stated Verstappen's interest
in finding a new seat elsewhere stems from the team struggling to
attract new engineers. "What's the reason they are struggling to
keep Max? I heard it's they have difficulty bringing some key
people back or hiring," he told the Pelas Pistas podcast. "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." Horner's
dismissal came suddenly, with the Briton informed of the change the
evening before it was made public. Piquet Jr suggested Horner
wanted more control over decisions within the company before being
shown the exit door. "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 said. "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."
