Horner-Brown, what a clash: “Red Bull's commitment should not be laughed at” | FP

Duel in press conference

The tension around the figure continues to grow in the paddock Christian Horner. The Red Bull team principal at a press conference did not respond to questions regarding the internal investigation currently pending on his account, but found himself in a verbal duel with the CEO. of the McLaren team, Zak Brown. The American manager in recent days has been very critical of the peculiar situation that sees Red Bull owning two teams in Formula 1.

Two teams, one owner

Present at the press conference together with Horner himself and Laurent Mekies, team principal of RB (the second team of the Austrian giant), Brown reiterated his criticisms regarding the issue: “There is no other major sport that I know of where you can have ownership of two competing teams. It's not allowed in any other sport.”he ruled.

The McLaren boss also expressed a thought on the Horner's 'legal' affairsnot going into the merits of the issue but underlining how these situations are “unpleasant” And “are bad for the image of F1″ and hoping that the issue will be resolved “with consistent transparency and as soon as possible“.

Horner defends Red Bull's commitment

However, in this case Horner did not give up replying to the rival manager, defending with drawn sword the history of Red Bull in F1 and the operation of the property: “You have to look back to the beginning of history to know why the property [dei due team di F1] it's how it is now – Horner declared – Bernie Ecclestone and Max Mosley approached Dietrich Mateschitz in 2005 to acquire the then struggling Minardi Formula 1 team, which was on the verge of bankruptcy. Dietrich stepped in, acquired the team, revived it, and invested significantly in the facilities in Faenza, Italy“.

Horner also underlined how both during the 2008 financial crisis and in the Covid years, the Red Bull group has never failed to support Formula 1'providing' four cars and the Austrian Red Bull Ring circuit to allow the championship to restart in 2020. “Red Bull's commitment to F1 and these two teams is therefore exceptional and should be applauded and appreciated – he concluded – rather than mocked and belittled“.