Zak Brown addresses Christian Horner Formula 1 return links – 'It's genuine'

McLaren boss Zak Brown has commented on the hot-button speculation that former rival Christian Horner could return to Formula 1. Horner, 51, was sacked as Red Bull's team principal after 20 years in July, although his exit was only ratified last month.

Due to being under contract until 2030, the Briton negotiated an eye-watering severance package worth £80million. Horner and Red Bull's deal also enables him to return to F1 before next summer. The clause has sparked rumours that Horner could already be lining up his next move, with Alpine, Aston Martin and Haas all linked with his services.

A return to the paddock would see him renew his rivalry with Brown, who became his primary opponent during Red Bull's battle with McLaren in recent years.

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Brown, the CEO of McLaren's F1 team, acknowledges that he and Horner weren't 'best friends' but says that the 51-year-old added an element of 'authenticity' to the sport, making it more 'genuine'.

"I think he's had a stellar career in Formula 1; his results are lots of drivers' championships, world championships," Brown told Bloomberg.

"I think when you get into sport, not everyone's best friends, there's different characters, so, while we may not have too many cups of tea in England, as we say, you need all different types of characters in the sport.

"I think that's what makes the sport very exciting, that's that kind of the Netflix effect, is what happens off the track.

"I think our sport's unique in that not only is the competition on the field of play extremely exciting, there's a lot of competition off the field of play.

"And it's a small group of team bosses and drivers, so I think the fans can get to know us all. I've got my friends in pitlane and some that aren't, but I think that's what makes it exciting, and it's authentic and genuine."

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Previously, though, Brown claimed that Horner's exit made F1 a 'healthier place', having been replaced as Red Bull team principal by Laurent Mekies. "If I look up and down pit lane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed, and that line got crossed before," he explained.

"So I think that we'll see a little bit of a change for the better. There's a higher level of trust that now if we sit down and have a conversation on a topic where we think there could be some confidentiality, and it's just not an automatic, 'I'm going to use that as a political weapon.'

"We're going to be in a better place, a little bit more unified, and a little bit more trusting that while we're fighting on track, we can have a conversation about what's good for the sport off it. And that won't get manipulated for political reasons and taken out of context."