F1 Today | Has Christian Horner's dismissal been explained and Piquet Jr's slip up

Christian Horner is no longer part of the Red Bull team as the team principal and CEO was sacked on Wednesday.

The Briton was critical to the Austrian team's success since they joined the grid in 2005, winning 14 world championships.

At Red Bull, The Austrian branch wanted to dismiss Horner as team principal due to being accused of inappropriate behaviour by a former employee, but Chalerm Yoovidhya prevented it.

The majority stake of 51% of the team was owned by the Thai shareholders and could decide whether Horner could stay at the Austrian team.

Despite this, research by PlanetF1 has revealed that Red Bull GmbH recently filed documents to change the structure of the ownership. Yoovidhya sold his 2% stake to Fides Trustees SA, an independent Swiss trust fund. Chalerm and the Austrian branch now hold equal shares.

As Red Bull's performance dropped off on the track, the Thai group's confidence in Horner was said to decrease.

Max Verstappen has endured a frustrating 2025 season as the Red Bull is unable to challenge the McLaren on most circuits.

This has caused the four-time world champion to flounder in their wake as Verstappen has only seen the chequered flag first twice this year.

His wins in Japan and at Imola were very good drives, but they have turned out to be flashes in the pan for Verstappen.

Rumours have emerged about a potential move to Mercedes as neither George Russell nor Andrea Kimi Antonelli are signed up for 2026.

Nelson Piquet Jr may have misspoken on the Pelas Pistas podcast: "There are weekends this year when things just don't work out. There's not much to do about it. One of their drivers is a rookie, who was then unfortunately hit by Hadjar last weekend. In any case, it was not the weekend for Mercedes. But who knows what next year might bring when Max is driving there!"