Zak Brown has backed a Christian Horner return, arguing the F1 paddock lacks the strong personalities the sport thrives on without his presence.<\/p>\n
Though the pair have clashed in the past, Brown described the former Red Bull team principal as a \u201cgreat operator\u201d and said he would be shocked if he did not find his way back into the paddock.<\/p>\n
Zak Brown backs Christian Horner return as old team Red Bull resets<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Red Bull\u2019s hierarchy today looks very different from what it did two years ago.<\/p>\n Not only has the team lost key players in Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley, but long-serving team boss Horner was let go last season in a shock announcement just days after the British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n The pantomime villain in many rival team bosses\u2019 tales, Horner was also one of the most successful, with eight drivers\u2019 championship titles and seven constructors\u2019 crowns.<\/p>\n Amid declining results and off-track issues, Horner was given the boot after the 2025 British Grand Prix and weeks later, as reported by PlanetF1.com, secured a multi-million pound package that allows him to return to Formula One in 2026.<\/p>\n Linked to Alpine having lodged a bid to buy Otro Capital\u2019s 24 per cent stake in the Formula 1 team, Horner could be back in the paddock before the end of the year.<\/p>\n Brown, who butted heads with the Briton in the past, says he\u2019d welcome it.<\/p>\n \u201cChristian was a great personality for the sport. Sport always has great personalities. They come in, come and go,\u201d he told PlanetF1.com and other invited media on Wednesday.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019d be great to have Christian back in the sport. He\u2019s a great operator. His track record speaks for itself.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d rather have 10 weak team principals, but that\u2019s not going to happen anytime soon, and there\u2019s huge talent that\u2019s coming up. You know all the time. There\u2019s been a lot of defensive moves here in the last two to three years.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I think it\u2019d be great to have him back in this given his passion for the sport and his age, I\u2019d be shocked if he wasn\u2019t back in the sport, whether it was with Alpine or someone else.\u201d<\/p>\n Go deeper: Christian Horner, his Alpine bid and Red Bull\u2019s reset<\/p>\n Toto Wolff emerges as surprise bidder for Alpine stake against Christian Horner <\/a><\/p>\n Red Bull\u2019s painful reset leaves Laurent Mekies facing a daunting rebuild <\/a><\/p>\n Laurent Mekies backed in Red Bull reset<\/p>\n Brown also weighed in on Horner\u2019s replacement at Red Bull, Frenchman Laurent Mekies.<\/p>\n The 48-year-old took up the reins in the immediate aftermath of the Horner announcement, and although under his leadership Max Verstappen put in an inspired fight-back in the championship, it was too little too late for the Dutch racer.<\/p>\n This year, Red Bull has taken up the daunting task of designing its own power unit in conjunction with Ford, and so far the results have not gone their way.<\/p>\n The team has just 16 points from three grands prix weekends, and earlier this month was dealt another blow with the news that Verstappen\u2019s long-time race engineer GianPiero Lambiase is off to McLaren no later than 2028.<\/p>\n GP\u2019s departure is the latest hard-hitting loss for Red Bull, who not only said farewell to Horner and long-time advisor Helmut Marko last year, but also lost design legend Adrian Newey to Aston Martin and stalwart Jonathan Wheatley.<\/p>\n Brown says it\u2019s now up to Mekies to rebuild Red Bull in what he called a \u201creset\u201d and a \u201credirect\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cOne would be very foolish to write Red Bull off,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think they [Red Bull] have to kind of do a little bit of a reset, right? They lost a lot of people \u2013 Christian, Wheatley, GP, Newey, Dan Fallows, I think Dan\u2019s now maybe back.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think much what I came into, which was a different situation, because they were very competitive, but the majority of the pit wall has changed.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I think Laurent is going to\u2026 I rate Laurent, I think he does a very good job, he\u2019s technical, he\u2019s young, and I think he\u2019s got to rebuild the people that he lost and rebuild the team, and I have no doubt he will.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd much like McLaren, had an immense amount of talent that just needed to be unlocked, I think that\u2019s probably the same as Red Bull.<\/p>\n \u201cThey\u2019ve been very dominant up to not very long ago, so there\u2019s a lot of talent in there, and I think he\u2019ll just need to get a redirect.\u201d<\/p>\n Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n