McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown says the only potential surprise about Christian Horner’s departure from Red Bull was the timing in the middle of the current season.
Horner was removed from his positions of CEO and team principal at Red Bull just two days after the British Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen third in the drivers’ championship and the team having won on two occasions so far this year. With multiple senior departures over the past 18 months and two internal investigations into Horner at the start of last year, Brown says it’s not a surprise to see a change made, even if he wasn’t expecting it this month.
“Maybe [surprised by] 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 it had been getting worse. So I’m not surprised.
“Anytime in the middle of the season [could be surprising] but we’re head down on our championship. They’ve got Max still knocking on the door, so we’ve got to pay attention to that. But a tremendous amount of success they had.
“I think given [Horner’s] age and his history in motor racing, I’d be surprised if he didn’t show up somewhere in motor racing, 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.”
One recent aspect of the Red Bull situation that Brown is referencing is the speculation surrounding Verstappen’s future, with the four-time world champion linked with a move to Mercedes. Brown says it’s a situation he is following, but not with any vested interest.
“Yeah, but I couldn’t be happier with Oscar [Piastri] and Lando [Norris]. So short of being an interested spectator, I’m very happy with my driver lineup. So I don’t really spend any time on other than what pops up on my phone.”
Brown was speaking at Sunday’s Honda Indy Toronto race where Pato O’Ward won for McLaren, but he sees a long way to go when it comes to the goals for his own teams.
“I feel like we’re on our way. I feel like we’re hitting our goals, but our ultimate goal is to win the Indy 500, win the IndyCar Championship, win the Formula 1 Constructor’s Championship, win the Formula 1 Driver’s Championship, and win Le Mans, and win the World Endurance Championship, and then to do it again!
“So we’ve only been able to do one of those so far, which is the Constructor’s Championship. In all seriousness, I feel like we’re well on our way, but a lot of unfinished business.”
