McLaren's Brown Criticizes Red Bull's Turbulence

Zak Brown claims a toxic atmosphere engulfs Red Bull, signaling more upheaval ahead.

“Red Bull has a fairly toxic environment. It’s still destabilised,” Brown, CEO of McLaren, launched a new attack on the Red Bull Racing team and its director, Christian Horner.

A few weeks ago, the American lamented the ongoing confusion at Milton Keynes weighing on Formula 1.

“The departure of Newey is significant, as I think many people at Red Bull started working with him. I’ve mentioned before that there were CVs circulating.”

“It happens all the time, but we’re seeing a higher level of discomfort. I also think it will be more difficult with sponsors in the future, as they will closely examine what they are associated with. It’s a tricky situation.”

Brown quickly highlighted the uncertainties surrounding Verstappen’s future.

Verstappen is under contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028, but some have suggested he might leave before that.

With everything that has recently happened behind the scenes at Red Bull, particularly with Adrian Newey’s departure, Brown thinks the team has weakened.

“There’s all the drama around Verstappen. Will he stay or go? Max has a contract, only his father is outspoken enough to openly discuss the issues.”

“Red Bull is a great racing team, but it’s destabilised. You can see it with Newey’s departure. However, you can never write them off.”

“As I’ve said, it’s an incredible team, but in my reasoning, it’s no longer as strong as before. If I look at who has the best visibility and momentum right now, it’s Ferrari and McLaren. But things can change quickly, so we need to keep both feet on the ground.”

Gerhard Berger, known to be close to the Austrian faction of Red Bull, largely agreed with Brown’s comments and thinks the problems go back to the death of founder Dietrich Mateschitz at the end of 2022, leading to the collapse of a potential factory partnership in F1 with Porsche.

“It would have been an excellent marketing idea and would probably have happened if Didi Mateschitz, always foresighted, had not already been so ill at the time. With Didi, decisions were quick, paths short, and the budget was no issue.”