McLaren CEO Zak Brown has revealed that he was not surprised by Christian Horner's exit from Red Bull, but that the timing itself was unexpected.
After over 20 years leading the Milton Keynes-based outfit as its team principal and CEO, Horner and Red Bull parted ways just three days on from the British Grand Prix.
Horner weathered a storm over the last couple of seasons, ever since he was investigated for inappropriate behaviour by a female employee – he was later cleared of any wrongdoing.
Since the investigation, he dealt with public criticism from Max Verstappen's father, Jos, a power struggle within the F1 team, several senior departures and worsening performances on track.
It was significant "drama" for Horner to handle, with Brown having highlighted that the Red Bull camp never calmed down.
Discussing if Horner's exit was a surprise, Brown told TSN: "Maybe the timing, but not the result. I think, there's been a lot of drama there the last couple years, and it doesn't seem like that drama has been calming down.
"Maybe beginning to get worse, so I'm not surprised anytime in the middle of the season, but we're head down on our championship.
"They've got Max still knocking on the door, so we got to pay attention to that. But yeah, tremendous amount of success they had [with Horner]."
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What next for Horner?
Since Horner's exit, it has already been speculated what could be next for the 51-year-old. Alpine are still in need of a new team boss; however, it will be a Mercedes customer outfit from next season, meaning a close working relationship with Toto Wolff.
As a result, a move to Alpine for Horner has been ruled out by many, with Brown unsure what could be next for him.
"I think, given his age and his history in motor racing, I'd be surprised if he didn't show up somewhere in motor racing," added Brown.
"But I don't know his other interests, whether he wants to go run a football team or what have you. So, we'll see."
Following Horner's exit, the big question is whether Red Bull can retain Verstappen, following the increasing reports linking him to Mercedes.
When asked if he's following the Verstappen to Mercedes speculation, Brown answered: Yeah, but I couldn't be happier with Oscar and Lando.
"So sort of being an interested spectator, I'm very happy with my driver line-up, so I don't really kind of spend any time on other than what pops up on my phone."
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