Zak Brown gives big reason he wasn’t surprised by Christian Horner’s Red Bull exit

McLaren F1 CEO Zak Brown wasn’t surprised by Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull, citing the “drama” surrounding the whole team.

Earlier this month, Red Bull announced that Horner had been relieved of his CEO and team principal duties.

Horner had been in charge of Red Bull’s F1 team since its inception in 2005.

Under his leadership, Red Bull saw success in the early 2010s, winning four straight titles with Sebastian Vettel.

Red Bull returned to glory in 2021 following their partnership with Honda, which finally gave them a competitive power unit in the hybrid era.

Max Verstappen has won four consecutive drivers’ titles between 2021 and 2024.

However, it looks unlikely that Verstappen will make it a fifth amid Red Bull’s decline in form.

Red Bull’s drop down the pecking order coincided with Adrian Newey’s departure last year.

Red Bull have also lost Jonathan Wheatley, while Rob Marshall left the team in 2023.

Giving his view on the news, Brown wasn’t shocked by Red Bull’s decision.

“Maybe the timing, but not the result,” Brown told TSN. “I think, there’s been a lot of drama there the last couple years, and it doesn’t seem like that drama has been calming down.

“Maybe beginning to get worse, so I’m not surprised anytime in the middle of the season, but we’re head down on our championship.

“They’ve got Max still knocking on the door, so we got to pay attention to that. But yeah, tremendous amount of success they had [with Horner].”

Brown expects Horner return

Brown is predicting that Horner will return to motorsport in some form.

Horner has been linked with Ferrari, while Alpine could be a potential way back into the sport, given his close relationship with Flavio Briatore.

“I think, given his age and his history in motor racing, I’d be surprised if he didn’t show up somewhere in motor racing,” Brown added.

“But I don’t know his other interests, whether he wants to go run a football team or what have you. So, we’ll see.”

Verstappen’s F1 future continues to be a hot topic.

The Dutchman has been heavily linked with a switch to Mercedes.

Reflecting on the rumours, Brown said: “So sort of being an interested spectator, I’m very happy with my driver line-up, so I don’t really kind of spend any time on other than what pops up on my phone.”