Brown Targets Red Bull Culture in Fresh Critique

Zak Brown criticizes Red Bull’s team culture again, highlighting a growing discontent among staff.

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, reiterated his belief that Adrian Newey’s departure would trigger “the fall of other dominos” at Red Bull, stating that “people want to work for brands they are proud of.”

The Red Bull RB17 hypercar will be Newey’s last contribution to the Milton Keynes-based team, with his shocking exit confirmed after the first quarter of 2025, while his involvement in the Formula 1 team has already ended.

Even though the team has tried to downplay the significance of Newey’s departure, losing the services of a Formula 1 designer with 25 titles to his name, as well as the threat that he might join a rival in the future, is far from beneficial for Red Bull, Brown suspects that more departures are on the horizon.

“There are a lot of issues over there,” Brown said about Red Bull from the Woking factory, where staff celebrated Lando Norris’s victory yesterday.

“I think the least of their problems is probably on the track, isn’t it? I mean, Max [Verstappen] is incredible. It’s an incredible team.”

“But I think that with what happened at the start of the year, the constant noise (around Christian Horner) and now with Adrian Newey leaving, I still think as I said in Miami that there are more dominos to fall.”

“Many sports teams focus on culture and I think Red Bull has issues to address that could pose ongoing challenges. I think we’re starting to see that now.”

Supporting his belief, Brown repeated that there was an “unusually higher level” of resumes landing on his desk, adding he was “certain” that other Red Bull staff members are questioning their future with the team after Newey’s departure.

“We have a great team. There are always resumes circulating, but we’ve seen an unusually high level.”

“And I think when someone like Adrian Newey leaves, not only do you miss his pencil stroke for car design, but people want to work for brands they are proud of and bosses they want to work with.”

“So I think with everything that’s going on over there and Adrian Newey’s departure, I’m quite certain that there will be people inside who are thinking it’s time for them to move on as well.”