Zak Brown on a Horner comeback: F1 doesn’t run on best friends
Christian Horner’s gone, but the noise around him hasn’t budged an inch. Barely three months after Red Bull dismissed the most decorated team principal of the modern era in the wake of the British Grand Prix, a reported settlement has landed — and so have the whispers that Horner could stroll back into the paddock in 2026.
McLaren chief Zak Brown, never shy in this particular feud, didn’t duck it. Asked by Bloomberg about Horner’s potential return, he played it cool, respectful even — but kept the edges sharp.
“I think he’s had a stellar career in Formula 1,” Brown said, tipping his hat to the ledger: six Constructors’ titles, eight drivers’ crowns split between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. “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, you need all different types of characters in the sport.”
That’s Zak with the velvet glove. The iron fist? You don’t have to look far. Over the last 18 months of Horner’s reign — as McLaren emerged as Red Bull’s most persistent irritant — the two traded jabs on and off the record. Brown called Red Bull’s racecraft “nasty” back in 2024; Horner returned fire in Drive to Survive with a choice insult. Toto Wolff weighed in from the Mercedes side of the fence too, branding Horner an “a**hole” and accusing him of playing by a different rulebook. This wasn’t a cold war. It was loud, public, and oddly compelling.
PlanetF1.com reported this week that Horner and Red Bull have formally parted ways via a settlement worth around $100 million, with terms that could allow him back in the pitlane as early as 2026. For now, there are no active talks about a comeback — the same outlet says his focus is firmly on family, with a spot of Scotland on the itinerary last weekend — but the paddock is already gaming out what “Horner 2.0” might look like.
The working theory? Something closer to a team-ownership model. Think Wolff at Mercedes: principal, CEO, and shareholder rolled into one. It would suit Horner’s MO and keep him at the pointy end of F1’s political grid, where he’s always been most comfortable. Remember, this is the architect who took an energy drink start-up to serial title-winning machine, then navigated the Verstappen era with ruthless efficiency. You can dislike the method and still admire the return.
Red Bull, meanwhile, has moved on. In the immediate aftermath of the split, Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies was brought in to take charge as team principal and CEO. It’s a dramatic reshuffle at the top of a team that’s rarely looked unstable from the outside — and it leaves the power map different to the one we all knew. Toto Wolff is now the elder statesman among current team bosses; Brown, Andrea Stella and the rest are in that punchy middle zone, trying to prise open an order that’s been stubborn for years.
Brown, for his part, insists the theatre is part of the product. “That’s the Netflix effect,” he said. “What happens off the track. Our sport’s unique in that not only is the competition on the field of play extremely exciting, there’s a lot of competition off the field of play. And it’s a small group of team bosses and drivers, so I think the fans can get to know us all. I’ve got my friends in pitlane and some that aren’t, but I think that’s what makes it exciting — it’s authentic and genuine.”
He would say that. But he’s not wrong. F1’s soap opera has always run parallel to the stopwatch, and this year’s version has simply swapped protagonists. Whether Horner rejoins the cast in 2026 is the multi‑million-dollar question.
There’s also the practical side. The sport’s next big rules reset lands in 2026. If Horner intends to re-enter with influence, he’ll want a seat at a table that’s already serving the future: engine architecture, chassis philosophy, driver markets set to shuffle again. Stepping straight into an ownership stake would be the cleanest way back. Anything less and he’s punching his way up the ladder he once built.
Brown, unsurprisingly, won’t be rolling out a welcome mat — but he’s not pushing for a lockout either. It’s competition he craves, with every shade of personality that comes with it. “Not everyone’s best friends,” he reminded us. In Formula 1, they rarely are. That’s half the fun. The other half, as ever, will be decided on Sundays.
