In true Formula 1 fashion, peace talks between McLaren CEO Zak Brown and Red Bull team boss Christian Horner took place at *checks notes* 30,000 feet in first class of an airplane. The pair, who can maybe best be described as frenemies, boarded the same flight to the UK following Sunday’s Singapore Grand Prix, where they slipped into matching airline pajamas and buried the hatchet over the much-discussed fastest lap fiasco.
“Peace in F1 has been restored on flight home,” Brown captioned a photo of himself and Horner on the plane. “Where’s Netflix when you need them? But the battle will continue on track. What an awesome sport!”
Lando Norris claimed victory at the Marina Bay Street Circuit but was denied a Grand Slam after RB’s Daniel Ricciardo snatched the fastest lap away from him, in what may have been the final race of his F1 career.
Pundits and fans alike were quick to suggest the order may have come from the very top — *ahem* Horner — who theoretically could have asked Red Bull’s sister team to steal the point away as Norris rapidly closes the gap to Max Verstappen in the driver’s championship standings. Statisticians pointed out that Verstappen could now finish second to Norris in all remaining races this season and still clinch the championship by one point, leading Ricciardo to joke that he may have guaranteed himself “a nice Christmas present” from the Red Bull ace.
Brown later told reporters he was planning to query Ricciardo’s final lap, given the bonus point for fastest lap wasn’t even available to the Australian as he was running outside the top ten in 18th position.
"That's a nice A / B team sporting thing that I didn't think was allowed," he told Sirius XM. "But hey, that's not the first time we've seen it, probably won't be the last." He went on, "I'll certainly ask some questions. It's something I've spoken about in the past and I think it illustrates that it does happen, because I think you wouldn't have made that pit stop to go for that.”
However, RB team boss Laurent Mekies shut down the speculation in an exclusive interview with Motorsport. He insisted the team allowed Ricciardo to pit for fresh tyres and gun for the fastest lap as it may have been his final race, given widespread speculation that he will be replaced by rookie Liam Lawson before the next round in Austin, Texas.
“It's as simple as giving the guy a chance in what has been a crazy weekend,” Mekies cryptically told us. “It's like: give him a break, give him a chance to post a good lap and finish this weekend on a high.”
Horner also denied that the two teams worked together, before hopping on a plane with Brown and seemingly hashing it out with him directly. That takes us back to the social media snap, where Brown flashed a thumbs up sign while rocking a ‘Pato Who?’ hat from Arrow McLaren IndyCar driver Pato O’Ward’s merch line (the story behind that cheeky slogan is a whole other can of worms to unpack another day).
The wife of Red Bull’s outgoing chief technical officer, Adrian Newey, was among those who dropped a funny comment under the Instagram post. “Now making him wear a McLaren cap would have been something,” Amanda Newey joked, adding a wink emoji.
This debacle was far from the first time Brown has criticized Red Bull’s relationship with its unofficial “B-team,” or even Horner’s personal affairs. Similarly, the controversial team principal has slung insults at the McLaren marketing whiz, most recently condemning the team’s upgraded rear wing.
Though Brown made it clear the “Drive to Survive” cameras weren’t rolling during their peace talks, both men share a penchant for the dramatic, so it’s likely we’ll get some spicy sound bites surrounding the Singapore fiasco when the Netflix series returns next year.
