Zak Brown makes brutal claim following Christian Horner sacking

McLaren CEO Zak Brown has proclaimed Formula 1 to be a "healthier" place following the sacking of Christian Horner as Red Bull team principal.

Horner was removed from his operational duties at Red Bull on July 9, three days after the British Grand Prix, with the team's parent company offering no explanation for his departure.

The Briton had been in charge for 20 years, guiding Red Bull to eight drivers' titles and six constructors' championships, although the last 18 months of his tenure were troubled.

Last year, Horner was twice cleared after allegations were made against him by a female employee of inappropriate behaviour. The form of the team also declined.

As far as Brown is concerned, given his often tetchy relationship with Horner, Red Bull is now a better team for having Laurent Mekies in charge.

Brown, who confirmed speaking to Mekies ahead of this weekend's Hungarian Grand Prix, told PA, "I'm happy Laurent's in the role he is in. I like Laurent; that'll be healthy, and maybe we can get back to focusing on competition on the track.

"There's always going to be some political aspects to the sport, but I think it is going to be healthier with Laurent. I'm a fan of Laurent. I have known him for a long time, and it'll be good to go racing against him."

Brown claims that the off-track battle with Horner "went too far". Last year, numerous accusations were made by Red Bull against McLaren as Lando Norris battled Max Verstappen for the drivers' title.

"There's always going to be politicking in F1; let’s try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff, but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that’s just going too far," added Brown.

"If I look up and down the pit lane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed, and that line got crossed before.

"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."

Brown, though, has no doubt Horner will return to F1 in some capacity.

"I presume he'll be back," he said. "He's young, he's a racer, and he's got pretty awesome credentials.

"But I’m looking forward to racing Red Bull, more like we race Ferrari and Mercedes and being more collegiate, because it’s important for the benefit of the sport that we all can work together."