The 51-year-old Briton has been replaced by former Racing Bulls principal Laurent Mekies<\/a>, who becomes only the second boss in Red Bull Racing history.<\/p>\n Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2025 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K. New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.<\/a><\/p>\n The high-profile switch halfway through the season \u2014 and before the mid-season break \u2014 took the paddock by surprise. Reports suggest even Horner didn\u2019t see the axe before it swung.<\/p>\n But Brown said the clock had clearly been ticking on Horner\u2019s reign before the trigger was pulled.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe the timing, but not the result,\u201d Brown told Canadian broadcaster TSN<\/a> when asked whether he\u2019d be surprised by the news.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there\u2019s been a lot of drama there the last couple years, and it doesn\u2019t seem like that drama has been calming down. Maybe it\u2019s been getting worse.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s far from the first time Brown has taken an opportunity to put the boot in, and earlier this year he told the UK <\/a>Telegraph<\/a> that his rivalry with Horner was \u201cgenuine\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s no love lost there,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t like how he rolls and no doubt he feels the same about me.\u201d<\/p>\n The antagonism has been cemented by McLaren\u2019s ascent to the top of the sport at Red Bull Racing\u2019s expense.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s yet to finish higher than sixth in the standings.<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: What effect will Christian Horner\u2019s sacking have on the F1 silly season? Listen to Pit Talk below.<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 though neither team has been found to be operating outside the rules in this way.<\/p>\n There is also a political advantage to one brand owning two teams, doubling its voting power in key regulatory decisions.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019re 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\u2019t the same for everyone, and you have pockets of teams,\u201d Brown said at the time.<\/p>\n \u201cThe A\/B team situation doesn\u2019t have that level playing field, do I think we now need to address it, and the FIA needs to address it through the rules.\u201d<\/p>\n It provoked a fiery response from Horner at the time, declaring that F1 should be \u201cgrateful\u201d for Red Bull\u2019s considerable investment over the years.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n An internal Red Bull investigation led by an independent lawyer dismissed the complaint, but Brown said the attempts to play down the matter wouldn\u2019t wash and called for F1 and the FIA to conduct their own open inquiries.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they [the FIA] need to make sure that things have been fully transparent with them,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n \u201cIt 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.<\/p>\n \u201cI think until then there\u2019ll continue to be speculation because there are a lot of unanswered questions about the whole process, and so I think that\u2019s what\u2019s needed by those that run the sport to really be able to draw a line under it.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n But the scandal exposed internal ructions that had rived the team for years, dragging them into the open.<\/p>\n It triggered a brain drain that has left one of F1\u2019s modern powerhouses down on experience.<\/p>\n Marquez makes it five wins on the bounce | 00:55<\/p>\n Chief engineering officer Rob Marshall was the first to go, announcing his departure for McLaren\u2019s chief designed job halfway through 2023.<\/p>\n But the exodus really kicked off after the Horner allegations.<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n \u201cKnowing Adrian pretty well, he\u2019s a very high-integrity individual,\u201d Brown said when Newey quit, taking another opportunity to skewer Horner. \u201cI\u2019m not surprised he\u2019s moving on.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the stuff that\u2019s going on there is a bit destabilising, which is probably the first domino to fall, and my guess is it won\u2019t be the last based on the resum\u00e9s that are flying around. We\u2019ve seen an increase in CVs coming in our way from the [Red Bull Racing].\u201d<\/p>\n Newey\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s other activities.<\/p>\n 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\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n On-track success has been the ultimate shield, with record-breaking dominance in 2023 enough to sublimate the tension, but the team\u2019s rapid disintegration from those unprecedented highs to finishing third in last year\u2019s constructors championship and to now being without a hope of either title in 2025 combined to leave Horner vulnerable.<\/p>\n The effective no-confidence vote from Max Verstappen, who is in talks with Mercedes about a possible switch away from Red Bull Racing<\/a>, was also crucial.<\/p>\n \u201cIf Max were to leave Red Bull, it would be a disaster for them,\u201d Brown told Associated Press, seizing yet another chance to take a shot at his chief rival.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/1752977588_817_poster-fallback.png\"\/)
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