"Glad he called them out": Fans react to Zak Brown's dig at Red Bull boss Christian Horner

McLaren CEO Zak Brown took a dig at Christian Horner by hinting that in his opinion Yuki Tsunoda should have been the second driver for Red Bull instead of Liam Lawson. Brown called out the team's strange driver selection, and fans shared their reactions in the comment section.

Tsunoda pulled off a sensational drive in VCARB during the 2025 Australian Grand Prix, qualifying P5. However, he missed out on the points, finishing P12 during the main race on Sunday amid wet conditions.

Nevertheless, his performance in qualifying caught the fans' eyes, especially as Lawson, the Milton Keynes-based team's second driver, qualified P18 and crashed on Sunday, resulting in a DNF.

Many fans and critics wanted Yuki to replace Sergio Perez for the 2025 season at Red Bull since he has been racing for the sister team from 2021 and outclassing his teammates consistently. But the team instead handed a promotion to an inexperienced Lawson.

Meanwhile, following Tsunoda's impressive drive in Australia, McLaren CEO Zak Brown called out the driver selection strategy at Red Bull. Talking to Sky Sports, he said:

“I think it’s going to be a very exciting year. Yuki did a great job, probably the guy who should be in the Red Bull – if you look at how he’s performed. But they seem to make some strange driver choices from time to time."

Brown's statement drew mixed reactions from fans as they dropped their takes in the comments section.

"Glad he called them out. Very sad politics are involved in Red Bull, where they are willing to sacrifice the Constructors Championship just to not pick the best driver," a fan opined.

"Zak Brown throws some shade," another fan said.

"Zach knows exactly what he is doing but stir that pot sir u cooking," a user commented.

A few fans also criticized Brown, asking him to focus on his own team and managing his own drivers.

"Zak should just mind his own business … his team ain’t any better in handling both their drivers. Period," a user said.

"When McLarens 2 “lead drivers” take each other out mid season, he’ll be singing a different song," another fan said.

"Someone ask Zak Brown about his Indy car driver choices," a user also said.

Yuki Tsunoda's contract with Racing Bulls will expire this year, and his performance will be crucial to his hopes of extending his stay in F1.

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Yuki Tsunoda on Red Bull snub: 'It’s more like political'

Yuki Tsunoda shares his reaction on Red Bull snub (Image Source: Getty)

Yuki Tsunoda lost his opportunity to become a Red Bull driver this year as Liam Lawson replaced Sergio Perez. In a chat with Autosport, Tsunoda opened up on the fateful moment and said that in his opinion the decision was political and not performance-based.

"I still want that [Red Bull] seat at some point. But the decision they made, it’s up to them, not me. From what I heard from other people, they’re saying it’s not performance-related. It’s more like a political [decision]. Maybe Christian didn’t really say specifically what the reason was. I didn’t care, really. Whatever they say, I don’t know if that’s true or not, to be honest," Tsunoda said.

Tsunoda, who has been racing for VCARB since 2021, will hope to prove Red Bull's decision makers wrong this year.