Zak Brown ‘didn’t like’ one aspect of competing against Christian Horner when he was Red Bull boss

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McLaren CEO Zak Brown didn’t always see eye-to-eye with former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

Red Bull and McLaren have squabbled over recent years, with the Woking-based team coming out on top over the past two seasons.

That didn’t stop Max Verstappen from winning the drivers’ championship last year and putting Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri under considerable pressure over the past few races.

However, Verstappen has done so without the support of Christian Horner, who was replaced by Laurent Mekies at Red Bull after the British Grand Prix.

Some Red Bull staff haven’t missed Horner, although McLaren boss Zak Brown doesn’t fully fall into that camp despite their differences.

He’s shared his immense admiration for Horner’s achievements at Red Bull, but also explained what he ‘didn’t like’ about competing against the 52-year-old.

READ MORE: Zak Brown thought Red Bull were ‘falling apart’ under Christian Horner before Laurent Mekies took over

Zak Brown ‘didn’t like’ how Christian Horner changed the way he fought in Formula 1

Brown was speaking on the High Performance Podcast about the former Red Bull boss and said: “I’ve known him a long, long time. I used to race against him, and I think in sport there are some rivalries that are healthy, some that are unhealthy.

“But I kind of put all the rivalry stuff in a different category because there’s also an aspect to our sport of trying to destabilise.”

Brown was asked if he misses Horner and replied: “He’s fun to arm wrestle with!

“Miss…but you know, I think the sport needs a lot of characters. I mean, what he achieved was remarkable, right?

“So, love him, hate him, whatever. His results were awesome. And I think really strong competitors make you better.

“I didn’t like some of the ways we jousted because that’s not who I am.

“But, kind of going back to racing, you kind of race people the way they race you on track.

“If they’re going to put you two wheels off, then you’ve got to put them two wheels off. If they’re going to put you four wheels off, sometimes the only way to race him is to put four wheels off.

“I’d like to think I’m a two-wheels-off guy, not a four-wheels-off guy. And I had to go four-wheels off with him a few times.”

Brown then spoke about Horner’s achievements at Red Bull and admitted: “Tons of respect for what he accomplished. You can’t take that away from him.

“And I’m not going to sit here and go, ‘Ah, he was lucky.’ I mean, I now know from having done it twice how hard it is, and he did a lot more than twice. So, you know, hats off to him.”

READ MORE: Who is Christian Horner? All you need to know from Red Bull to net worth

The moment Zak Brown thought Christian Horner crossed a line in their F1 rivalry

Brown has been outspoken in the past about how he disagrees with Red Bull having two teams that they own on the grid.

Although Red Bull insist information isn’t willingly passed between themselves and Racing Bulls, Daniel Ricciardo’s fastest lap at last year’s Singapore Grand Prix to deny Norris an extra point in his battle with Verstappen is one such instance that Brown could point at and say that he’s unsure whether that’s true.

Brown thought Red Bull crossed a line over suggestions about McLaren’s tyre construction and cooling technique.

Red Bull later retracted those accusations, but it pointed to how heated the rivalry was getting between the two parties.

Bernie Ecclestone has suggested a potential new destination for Horner, and it would be interesting to see how their feud played out after both team bosses have had time to reflect.