Brown ‘not surprised’ by Horner’s Red Bull sacking

Zak Brown, the head of McLaren Racing, claims he was “not surprised” Christian Horner’s resignation as Red Bull team boss.

Three days after Max Verstappen’s fifth place finish in the British Grand Prix, Max Verstappen’s driver Max Verstappen was fired as Red Bull’s team principal and CEO.

Brown told Canadian television station TSN, “I’m maybe surprised by] the timing, but not the outcome.

“There has been a lot of drama there for the past few years, and it doesn’t seem like it has stopped, or maybe is getting worse.” Therefore, I’m not surprised.

Horner has been replaced by Frenchman Laurent Mekies, who was formerly the team’s principal, with the solemnity of Red Bull.

Since their 2005 debut, Horner had led the team. 17 months after it became known that a female employee had accused him of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behavior, he abruptly left. The allegations, which Horner has always refuted, were dismissed by two separate internal Red Bull investigations.

Red Bull has gone through a difficult time since then, including a decline in their competitiveness.

In April of last year, their chief technical officer Adrian Newey resigned, at least partially as a result of the allegations against Horner. Newey, who is regarded as the best F1 designer in history, is currently employed by Aston Martin.

Long-time sports director Jonathan Wheatley also resigned in July of last year. He is currently the head of Sauber, which will eventually become Audi’s factory team.

Verstappen won his fourth consecutive world title last year, but Red Bull finished third overall in the constructors’ championship and only won three of the final thirteen races.

Verstappen leads the drivers’ championship this year with just two victories in its first 12 races, while Red Bull is fourth in the constructors’ championship, and there is much rumors that the Dutchman might leave for Mercedes at the end of the season.

Over the past few years, Brown and Horner have a contentious relationship.

He claimed that Horner and Red Bull “used to get along” and that their budget breach in 2021 “constituted cheating.”

Brown has addressed Horner less provocatively this year, but he has not concealed his disapproval of Red Bull’s rant about the McLaren car’s legality behind the scenes.

He drank from a bottle labelled “tyre water” at the Miami Grand Prix, in reference to Horner’s complaint to the FIA about how McLaren claimed to cool their tires with water. The claim had no real basis, according to Brown, who viewed it as false.

He said the bottle was “poking fun at a serious issue” and that it was “pokking fun.”