- Christian Horner wins public backing from one of his fiercest former rivals, Zak Brown.
- Brown once welcomed Horner’s Red Bull exit. Now he wants him back in F1.
- Alpine, Aston Martin and a $100 million settlement keep Horner’s return very much alive.
McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has publicly endorsed a comeback for Christian Horner. He called the former Red Bull team principal “a great operator” and one of Formula 1’s most valuable personalities.
Brown made the remarks at a McLaren media event on Wednesday. The comments came nearly a year after Horner’s dismissal from Red Bull in July 2025.
“I think Christian was a great personality for the sport,” Brown said via RACER. “Sport always has great personalities. They come and go. I think it’d be great to have Christian back in the sport. He’s a great operator.”
Brown added that Horner’s record in the sport makes his return to the paddock a question of when, not if. “His track record speaks for itself,” Brown added.
A rivalry that shaped an era
Brown and Horner spent years as two of the paddock’s most combative figures.
They clashed publicly over Red Bull’s cost cap breach, over racing incidents involving Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, and over the misconduct allegations against Horner in 2024, from which he was cleared twice.
Their exchanges were a persistent feature of Formula 1’s political landscape. That backdrop makes Brown’s current assessment all the more notable.
He acknowledged the value of strong competition in the sport, saying he would “rather have 10 weak team principals,” but accepted that the sport consistently produces strong leadership talent.
When Horner was replaced by Laurent Mekies in July 2025, Brown had welcomed the change. He said at the time that he liked Mekies and that the sport would be “healthier” under new Red Bull leadership.
His tone now is warmer and more reflective.
Horner’s rise and fall at Red Bull
Horner joined Red Bull ahead of its first Formula 1 season in 2005. Over the next two decades, he built the team into one of the sport’s dominant forces, overseeing 14 world championship titles in total.
His exit in July 2025 was sudden. Red Bull released him from his duties on 9 July, with Mekies stepping in as CEO and team principal immediately.
The club gave no official reason, though the decision came amid poor results, internal tensions linked to the Verstappen camp, and the residual fallout from the 2024 misconduct case.
Horner officially departed on 22 Sept. 2025 following a settlement reported to be worth between $70 million and $100 million.
The terms of that deal are understood to allow him to return to the championship in 2026.
Where could Horner land?
The most discussed route back involves Alpine. Horner is part of a consortium in talks to acquire the 24% stake in the Enstone-based team.
The shares are currently held by Otro Capital, the American investment firm that paid $233 million for the holding in 2023.
F1 valuations have risen considerably since, and the stake is now believed to be worth significantly more.
Horner is understood to want more than a team principal role this time. He is seeking an ownership stake as part of any arrangement, reflecting a desire for broader commercial and strategic involvement.
The path is not clear, though. Mercedes has entered the race for the same Otro Capital shareholding, complicating negotiations.
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff denied the bid was designed to block Horner, but he did acknowledge that the sport is “missing personalities” in the Briton’s absence.
Horner has also been linked with Aston Martin. The team’s difficult start to the 2026 season has prompted speculation that owner Lawrence Stroll could bring in a chief executive to work alongside team principal Adrian Newey.
Whether Newey, who left Red Bull during the turbulence surrounding Horner’s final months, would welcome that arrangement is unclear.
A sport that misses its villain
Brown is not the only rival to speak up. Wolff, who once said Horner left “a lot of broken glass” during his time in the sport, has also admitted that Formula 1 feels the absence.
“The sport is missing personalities. And his personality was clearly very controversial and that is good for the sport,” Wolff said.
He told Ferrari’s Fred Vasseur that F1 “needs the good, the bad, and the ugly,” and that without Horner, “it is now only the good and the ugly left.”
The convergence of opinion is striking. Brown and Horner spent years making each other’s working lives harder.
For Brown to say publicly that Horner made the sport better is a form of professional respect that carries weight precisely because of that history.
Brown, for one, does not expect Horner’s absence to last much longer.
