Verstappen's camp confirms: 'Horner played a major role in Red Bull's problems'

14:31, 16 Jul

Updated: 09:21, 17 Jul

byLudo van Denderen

Christian Horner was one of the reasons Red Bull Racing struggled to recruit good personnel. This is not just the conclusion of any analyst, but it comes from Max Verstappen's brother-in-law! With little imagination, he can be described as a true insider.

A week ago, Nelson Piquet Jr. caused a stir by 'revealing' that Verstappen is going to make the switch to Mercedes. In the Pelas Pistas podcast, Kelly Piquet's brother now states that Red Bull had difficulty attracting the right people, because it did not seem pleasant to work within Red Bull.

"Those little problems happened between him (Horner) 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 the former F1 driver.

Red Bull's brother-in-law speaks out about Horner

Piquet heard that Horner's style of leadership rubbed people the wrong way. “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."

Horner has now been sent away by Red Bull GmbH. The public should not feel sorry for the former team principal, thinks the Brazilian. "For him, it was a win-win situation. If he gets all the power, for him, it’s a giant moral [stance]. And if he doesn’t, he gets a huge amount of money, almost 100 million dollars."