Zak Brown labels Red Bull “pretty toxic” and predicts more F1 exits after Adrian Newey

McLaren CEO Zak Brown believes Red Bull have a “pretty toxic environment” and he expects more high-profile departures after Adrian Newey’s F1 exit.

Ahead of the Miami Grand Prix, Red Bull announced Newey will leave the team in the first quarter of 2025.

Newey explained that his decision to leave Red Bull stemmed from the fact he’s been there so long and would potentially look to pursue other projects, even inside of F1.

However, some reports suggested that Newey’s exit was linked to the worsening atmosphere inside the team in the wake of the Christian Horner scandal at the start of the year.

Brown has previously said that there’s been an influx of CVs from Red Bull employees - something Toto Wolff agreed with.

The McLaren boss has gone one further and labelled Red Bull as “pretty toxic”.

“Red Bull is a pretty toxic environment right now,” Brown said. “There is more to come.

“Newey's departure is an important one, because I think a lot of people at Red Bull started working with him. I already mentioned that there were resumes circulating.

“That happens all the time, but you see a higher level of discomfort. I also think that in the future it will be more difficult with sponsors, because they are going to examine carefully what they are associated with. That's a tricky situation.”

Max Verstappen’s future is still unclear despite having a contract with Red Bull until the end of 2028.

Verstappen has been courted by Mercedes and Toto Wolff as they look to replace Lewis Hamilton.

With positive noises coming out of Mercedes with their 2026 F1 power unit, Verstappen might be tempted to jump ship for the new rules.

Brown believes the whole situation has “destabilised” Red Bull now.

“You have the whole Verstappen drama. Is he staying or is he leaving? Max has a contract, only his father is pretty outspoken,” added Brown.

“Red Bull is a great racing team, but destabilised. You can see that with Newey leaving. However, you can never erase them.

“As I said, they are an incredible team, just by my reasoning, they are not as strong as they used to be. If I look at who has the best path of visibility and momentum right now, it's Ferrari and McLaren. Things can change quickly though, so we have to keep both feet on the ground.”