Zak Brown celebrates ‘healthier’ Formula 1 without Christian Horner after ‘line crossed’

Formula 1 is in a “healthier” place with Laurent Mekies as the Red Bull Racing CEO rather than Christian Horner.

That is the blunt opinion expressed by McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown, who believes that a line was crossed with Horner when it comes to Formula 1 politics.

Zak Brown believes Formula 1 ‘healthier’ without Christian Horner

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

In the days following the British Grand Prix, Red Bull announced that Christian Horner – team boss of Red Bull Racing for over 20 years – had been released with immediate effect, as Laurent Mekies was called up from Racing Bulls to take his place.

Mekies has since stepped into Horner’s roles as CEO and team principal of Red Bull Racing, as well as taking over as CEO of the group’s other companies, such as Red Bull Powertrains and Red Bull Advanced Technologies.

It had been a challenging 18 months for Horner off-track, who was twice cleared by Red Bull after investigations into allegations of inappropriate behaviour made by an employee. Horner denied all allegations prior to being cleared following two separate external investigations.

On the track, meanwhile, Red Bull’s performance waned as its days of dominating Formula 1 expired. Max Verstappen’s streak of Drivers’ Championship wins looks set to end at four.

Horner and Brown clashed verbally on several occasions throughout that 18-month period, Brown having called for transparency after news of the allegations and investigation broke.

And with Horner out the F1 door – at least for now – his place taken by Mekies, this is a change which Brown fully embraces.

“I’m happy Laurent’s in the role he is in,” Brown told The Telegraph. “I like Laurent, that’ll be healthy, and maybe we can get back to focusing on competition on the track.”

In Brown’s opinion, a line was crossed politically in Formula 1 with Horner at the helm of Red Bull.

Brown was vocal over Red Bull’s minor breach of the 2021 cost cap. Meanwhile, as McLaren began to usurp Red Bull as the leading F1 force, allegations of flexi-wings and using water for tyre cooling began to emerge against McLaren, linked to the Red Bull camp.

Earlier this year, Brown admitted there is “little love lost” between himself and Horner, saying that he was at fundamental odds with how the British executive carried out his role.

Horner’s disappearance from the F1 paddock, for the first time in over 20 years, has led to suggestions from some quarters that subsequent meetings amongst bosses at the F1 Commission have been more harmonious since Horner’s firing, although these claims have been vehemently disputed.

One senior source indicated to PlanetF1.com that Horner was “rarely a voice of discord or argument” in isolation, and that his disappearance from the Commission meetings has resulted in little change in overall inter-team dynamics.

“There’s always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent,” Brown continued. “I’m a fan of Laurent. I have known him for a long time, and it’ll be good to go racing against him.”

“It went too far,” Brown added, in reference to F1 politics. “There’s always going to be politicking in F1 – let’s try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff, but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that’s just going too far.

“If I look up and down the pit lane 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. There’s a higher level of trust that now, if we sit down and have a conversation on a topic where we think there could be some confidentiality, and it’s just not an automatic ‘I’m going to use that as a political weapon’.

“We’re going to be in a better place, a little bit more unified, and a little bit more trusting that while we’re fighting on track, we can have a conversation about what’s good for the sport off it. And that won’t get manipulated for political reasons and taken out of context.”

More key talking points from PlanetF1.com

👉 The silly season storylines to watch out for in F1’s summer break

👉 Five major F1 decisions that have already aged like milk: Hamilton, Sainz, Red Bull and more

Informed of his sacking in a London meeting following the British Grand Prix, Red Bull GmbH was initially tight-lipped on the reasons for its Horner decision.

Red Bull senior advisor Helmut Marko would break his silence on the topic when he spoke with Sky Deutschland at the Belgian Grand Prix.

“The decision was made by Oliver Mintzlaff,” Marko said, Mintzlaff being Red Bull’s CEO of corporate projects and new investments.

“We informed Christian Horner of this on Tuesday in London after the Silverstone race, at the same time officially thanking him for these 20 years and for these eight World Championship titles.

“This was the result of various factors, but above all, the performance wasn’t quite as good as it could have been.

“Fortunately, we were able to bring Laurent Mekies into the family. His responsibilities will be significantly reduced, with the main focus being on racing.”

Red Bull sits fourth in the F1 2025 Constructors’ standings at the summer break, 42 points behind Mercedes, a position ahead.

Read next: Critical F1 2026 governance agreement update as minor hurdles remain