McLaren’s Zak Brown Breaks Silence on Christian Horner’s Potential F1 Return in 2026 After Brutal Red Bull Sacking

Zak Brown pondered over the possibility of Christian Horner's return to Formula 1 after being replaced by Laurent Mekies at Red Bull.

McLaren’s Zak Brown Breaks Silence on Christian Horner’s Potential F1 Return in 2026 After Brutal Red Bull Sacking

Christian Horner and Zak Brown (via Red Bull)

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Christian Horner suffered from a disappointing end to his professional career with Red Bull after being snubbed unexpectedly. The Briton served the team loyally for over two decades, but was still axed brutally.

Laurent Mekies took the reins at Milton Keynes after Horner’s exit, and the team seems to be doing much better in performances now. Although the 50-year-old is unlikely to return to F1 in the coming year, McLaren’s Zak Brown pondered over the former’s potential return to the sport.

The 2025 season of Formula 1 has been full of ups and downs for Red Bull. The team already suffered from a mass exodus, and Christian Horner‘s sudden axing from the team seemed to be the tipping point. Milton Keynes is scoring much better now with Laurent Mekies, and Max Verstappen is looking stronger than ever. Amid the team’s resurgence, Zak Brown talked about Horner’s return to the sport if it ever came to that.

Speaking on Laurent Mekies’ leadership at Red Bull compared to Christian Horner, Zak Brown insisted that in the pitlane, Red Bull now fought with the rivals politically, but without crossing a certain line. Brown recalled that the line was crossed multiple times back when Horner was the team principal. Now, with Mekies, the team witnessed a change, and for the better.

If I look up and down pitlane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed, and that line got crossed before. I think that we’ll see a little bit of a change for the better.

Zak Brown said in a conversation with Bloomberg.

Zak Brown explained that Christian Horner had a stellar career in Formula 1, leading Red Bull. The 50-year-old helped the Austrian outfit amass over eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships. Brown insisted that Horner achieved a lot of titles as his personal success in the sport, and did not need to return any time soon just to prove his worth to the grid.

I think he’s had a stellar career in Formula 1; his results are lots of drivers’ championships, world championships.

Zak Brown added.

Zak Brown reveals importance of ‘different characters’ in Formula 1

Formula 1 has received multiple changes and additions in teams and team principals over the years. While all the different team principals maintain professional and healthy relationships on track, they haven’t been the best of friends.

Zak Brown and Christian Horner were never really on great terms and had a lot of back and forth on the track. However, Brown is on much better terms with Laurent Mekies, among others.

Zak Brown
Zak Brown, image via IMAGO

Zak Brown insisted that in Formula 1, not everyone was best friends, and it was completely alright. The Briton emphasized that the sport had different characters, which made it all the more exciting.

These factors made the pinnacle of motorsport all the more exciting for all drivers and fans. As such, F1 remained unique in this front, and the coming time was bound to be even more interesting.

I think when you get into sport, not everyone’s best friends, there’s different characters, so, while we may not have too many cups of tea in England, as we say, you need all different types of characters in the sport. I think that’s what makes the sport very exciting, that’s that kind of the Netflix effect, is what happens off the track. I think our sport’s unique in that not only is the competition on the field of play extremely exciting

Zak Brown noted

The 2025 season of Formula 1 is far from over, with seven races left this year. The drivers’ title isn’t decided between the leading pack. With Red Bull’s performance resurgence, the remainder of the year will likely be even more enticing. Hence, time will tell about how Zak Brown and Co. manage to defeat the in-form Red Bull squad led by Laurent Mekies.

Read More: Ex-F1 Team Boss Warns Aston Martin from Signing Christian Horner over Adrian Newey factor