Christian Horner’s nine-word response to Zak Brown after scathing Red Bull criticism

Red Bull boss Christian Horner did not wish to “dignify with an answer” the comments of McLaren’s Zak Brown, who spoke of a lack of “respect” from their rivals.

Brown, the McLaren Racing CEO, has never been shy to voice any of his concerns relating to the Red Bull team, with a fresh grievance emerging following the collision between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lando Norris as they battled for the race lead in Austria.

Christian Horner has no response for Zak Brown

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

Brown would make his frustrations clear when speaking to media, including PlanetF1.com, on Friday ahead of the British Grand Prix, claiming Red Bull did not follow the rules and have repeatedly shown a lack of “respect” for them.

“[I was] disappointed such a great team like Red Bull, that the leadership almost encourages it because you listen on the radio to what was said. We all have a responsibility on the pit wall to tell our drivers, the do’s and don’ts and what’s going on in the race,” said Brown.

“So I think we need to have respect for regulations and we’ve seen there is a lack of respect, whether it’s financial regulations or sporting or off track issues with fathers and things of that nature.”

Horner was pressed on those comments from Brown after the British GP, but in response to a question from PlanetF1.com, did not wish to “dignify” them by offering a comeback.

“I’m not going to dignify that with an answer,” was Horner’s clear stance.

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Verstappen and Norris engaged in battle once more during a gripping British GP, but while Norris was doing the overtaking in the early stages, a split in strategy put Verstappen on the front foot for the final stint.

McLaren and Norris did not take the option of new medium tyres at their disposal as the track dried out, instead opting for softs, while Verstappen had the hard tyres fitted and used them to full effect, passing Norris to claim P2.

Norris skidding past his marks in the pit box, leading to a slow 4.5-second stop, also did not help matters.

Horner was asked whether he feels McLaren has let Red Bull off the hook over recent races with “little errors”, as he pointed out that “it’s all marginal gains” when battling at the “sharp end” of the F1 grid, pointing to the job Mercedes did at Silverstone as Lewis Hamilton claimed his first victory in two-and-a-half years.

It was also a ninth triumph at Silverstone for Hamilton, which saw him set the record for most victories at a single track.

“When you’re at the sharp end, it’s all marginal gains,” said Horner.

“And Mercedes were quick here this weekend. They got the pole and front-row lockout and they executed a good race, Lewis did today.”

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