McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown believes Formula 1 hasn’t seen the last of Christian Horner and would welcome his former rival’s return to the paddock. Speaking to RacingNews365, Brown praised Horner as “a great personality for the sport” and expressed confidence that the ex-Red Bull team principal will eventually find his way back to F1, whether with Alpine or another outfit.
Horner departed Red Bull midway through the 2025 season, with Laurent Mekies taking over leadership of the six-time constructors’ champions after the British Grand Prix. Since his exit from Milton Keynes, the experienced team boss has been consistently linked with potential moves to both Aston Martin and Alpine, with the latter emerging as the most likely destination for his F1 comeback.
The former Red Bull chief faces competition in acquiring a 24 percent stake in the Renault-owned Alpine team, with Mercedes also reportedly interested in the minority shareholding. While Brown has voiced opposition to multi-team ownership arrangements and wouldn’t support Mercedes gaining that stake due to their power unit supply relationship with McLaren, he expressed more openness to Horner’s potential involvement with the Enstone-based squad.
“Christian was a great personality for the sport,” Brown stated. “His track record speaks for itself. I’d rather have 10 weak team principals, but that’s not going to happen anytime soon, and there’s huge talent that’s coming up all the time.” The McLaren boss concluded by saying he would be “shocked” if Horner doesn’t return to F1, citing the former Red Bull leader’s passion for motorsport and relatively young age.