Christian Horner’s sacking from the top job at Red Bull Racing wasn’t a surprise after years of turmoil at Milton Keynes, according to McLaren CEO Zak Brown.

Horner was stripped of his dual role as CEO and team principal of Red Bull Racing earlier this month in a shock call by Red Bull management.

The 51-year-old Briton has been replaced by former Racing Bulls principal Laurent Mekies, who becomes only the second boss in Red Bull Racing history.

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The high-profile switch halfway through the season — and before the mid-season break — took the paddock by surprise. Reports suggest even Horner didn’t see the axe before it swung.

But Brown said the clock had clearly been ticking on Horner’s reign before the trigger was pulled.

“Maybe the timing, but not the result,” Brown told Canadian broadcaster TSN when asked whether he’d be surprised by the news.

“I think there’s been a lot of drama there the last couple years, and it doesn’t seem like that drama has been calming down. Maybe it’s been getting worse.”

It’s far from the first time Brown has taken an opportunity to put the boot in, and earlier this year he told the UK Telegraph that his rivalry with Horner was “genuine”.

“There’s no love lost there,” he said. “I don’t like how he rolls and no doubt he feels the same about me.”

The antagonism has been cemented by McLaren’s ascent to the top of the sport at Red Bull Racing’s expense.

But it has long roots that date back several seasons, having first blown up early last year, when Brown called for the FIA to outlaw Red Bull from owning two teams in Formula 1.

Red Bull owns both Red Bull Racing and Racing Bulls, having bought the defunct Jaguar and Minardi teams ahead of the 2005 and 2006 seasons respectively.

At the time Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz had been heralded by the sport as a saviour of the long-struggling Minardi team, based in Faenza, Italy.

But in the intervening years some teams have been more sceptical of the relationship, particularly at times the historical minnow team has looked set for a giant-killing season, albeit it’s yet to finish higher than sixth in the standings.

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With stricter rules in force regarding how teams design their own cars and with equalisation measures in place to try to condense the field, some critics argue the close relationship between the teams could see loopholes exploited for unfair gains — though neither team has been found to be operating outside the rules in this way.

There is also a political advantage to one brand owning two teams, doubling its voting power in key regulatory decisions.

“I think we’re going to find if the intent of the [budget] cap in all sports is to have an equal playing field, then the way the rules are currently written aren’t the same for everyone, and you have pockets of teams,” Brown said at the time.

“The A/B team situation doesn’t have that level playing field, do I think we now need to address it, and the FIA needs to address it through the rules.”

It provoked a fiery response from Horner at the time, declaring that F1 should be “grateful” for Red Bull’s considerable investment over the years.

But the two were to come to more significant blows shortly afterwards, with publication of the news that Horner had been accused by an employee of coercive, abusive behaviour and sexual harassment.

An internal Red Bull investigation led by an independent lawyer dismissed the complaint, but Brown said the attempts to play down the matter wouldn’t wash and called for F1 and the FIA to conduct their own open inquiries.

“I think they [the FIA] need to make sure that things have been fully transparent with them,” he said.

“It needs to be thorough, fully transparent, and that they come to the same conclusion that has been given by Red Bull and that they agree with the outcome.

“I think until then there’ll continue to be speculation because there are a lot of unanswered questions about the whole process, and so I think that’s what’s needed by those that run the sport to really be able to draw a line under it.

“I think that’s up to FIA and Formula 1 to ultimately decide and to ask what they feel gives them the level of transparency that they need to ultimately come to their conclusion.”

An internal appeal was also dismissed, though the complainant has reportedly taken the matter to the UK Employment Tribunal, with a first hearing laid down for January.

But the scandal exposed internal ructions that had rived the team for years, dragging them into the open.

It triggered a brain drain that has left one of F1’s modern powerhouses down on experience.

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Chief engineering officer Rob Marshall was the first to go, announcing his departure for McLaren’s chief designed job halfway through 2023.

But the exodus really kicked off after the Horner allegations.

Chief technical officer Adrian Newey left shortly afterwards and has since joined Aston Martin. Sporting director Jonathan Wheatley has moved to Sauber/Audi as team principal. Chief strategist Will Courtenay has signed for McLaren.

“Knowing Adrian pretty well, he’s a very high-integrity individual,” Brown said when Newey quit, taking another opportunity to skewer Horner. “I’m not surprised he’s moving on.

“I think the stuff that’s going on there is a bit destabilising, which is probably the first domino to fall, and my guess is it won’t be the last based on the resumés that are flying around. We’ve seen an increase in CVs coming in our way from the [Red Bull Racing].”

Newey’s departure was reportedly at least partly down to him feeling that Horner had credited some of his technical achievements to other personnel alongside the political ructions inside the team.

There were even some reports early last year that Horner was attempting to manage Newey out of the Formula 1 program and into Red Bull’s other activities.

It was the hallmark of a management strategy that played a key part in costing him his job, with Red Bull management in Austria reportedly concerned by the concentration of power in the Englishman’s hands.

On-track success has been the ultimate shield, with record-breaking dominance in 2023 enough to sublimate the tension, but the team’s rapid disintegration from those unprecedented highs to finishing third in last year’s constructors championship and to now being without a hope of either title in 2025 combined to leave Horner vulnerable.

The effective no-confidence vote from Max Verstappen, who is in talks with Mercedes about a possible switch away from Red Bull Racing, was also crucial.

“If Max were to leave Red Bull, it would be a disaster for them,” Brown told Associated Press, seizing yet another chance to take a shot at his chief rival.

With Horner’s demise and Red Bull Racing’s discombobulation, Brown can claim victory in his long-running rivalry, but the McLaren chief doesn’t expect that his war has been won.

“I think given his age and his history in motor racing, I’d be surprised if he didn’t show up somewhere in motor racing,” he continued to TSN. “But I don’t know his other interests, whether he wants to go run a football team or what have you.

“We’ll see.”