Horner says ‘unfinished business’ will lead him back to F1 — but not as just a team boss

Christian Horner says he has “unfinished business” in Formula 1 as the former Red Bull Racing boss eyes a stake in one of the sport’s 11 teams.

Horner was unexpectedly sacked by the Austrian-owned Red Bull Racing team in the middle of last season with more than five years still to run on his contract.

The Englishman negotiated an eye-watering payout from the team that some reports estimated to be worth as much as US$100 million. He is also free to join a rival time as soon as the second quarter of this year.

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Horner has gone to ground since then, with his only public commentary being the announcement of a speaking tour in Australia starting later this month.

But speculation has been rife that he is seeking a return to the paddock, preferably via the purchase of a stake in a team, elevating him above the contracted chief executive status he enjoyed for two decades at Red Bull Racing.

Speaking to Press Association at the European Motor Show in Dublin, Horner said that he felt he still had more to give in Formula 1 but that he wouldn’t contemplate a comeback without an ownership share.

“I feel like I have unfinished business in Formula 1,” he said. “It didn’t finish the way that I would have liked it to finish.

“But I am not going to come back for just anything. I am only going to come back for something that can win. I don’t want to go back in the paddock unless I have something to do.

“I miss the sport, I miss the people, I miss the team that I built.

“I had 21 incredible years in Formula 1. I had a great run, won a lot of races, championships and worked with some amazing drivers, engineers and partners.

“I don’t need to go back. I could stop my career now. So I would only go back for the right opportunity to work with great people and to work in an environment where people want to win, and they shared that desire.

“I would want to be a partner rather than just a hired hand, but we will see how it plays out. I am not in a rush. I don’t need to do anything.”

Horner has been connected to several teams but most closely linked to Renault-owned Alpine, in which a group of investors led by Otro Capital holds a 24 per cent stake that it is interested in selling.

Horner, however, poured cold water on the prospect of a deal being in the works.

“What has been fascinating is that I stepped out of Red Bull on July 8, and this is the first time I have actually spoken to anyone,” he said.

“[In the media] I think I have been going to every single Formula 1 team, which has ranged from the back of the grid, to the middle of the grid and to the front of the grid. And there just seems to be an appetite as to: ‘What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?’

“The reality is that until the [northern] spring I can’t do anything anyway. It is very flattering to keep being associated with all of these different teams.”

Alpine boss Flavio Briatore, however, has stated explicitly that Horner is “negotiating” to buy Otro’s stake in the team.

“Otro wants to sell their participation in Alpine,” he said, per Autosport. “It’s a few groups interested to buy 24 per cent.

“But it has no link with me, because he [Horner] is negotiating with Otro, not negotiating with us [Renault].”

The team subsequently confirmed via a statement that Horner has expressed interest in buying into the team and that Otro has held preliminary talks about selling its stake.

Otro — along with RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, the latter led by actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B Jordan — bought its share in the Alpine team for €200 million ($337.9 million) in 2023, which valued the team at around $1.4 billion.

Formula 1 valuations have risen considerably since then. The sale of a 15 per cent share in Mercedes valued the team at $7.1 billion last November.

Despite his protestations, Horner is known to have approached at least two other teams, with both Aston Martin and Haas saying last September that they had been contacted by the axed team boss.

“It is true that he approached us,” Haas principal Ayao Komatsu said at the time. “One of our guys had an exploratory talk and that’s it. Nothing has gone any further. It is finished.”

The then Aston Martin chief, Andy Cowell, added: “It looks as though Christian is ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment. I can clearly say there are no plans for the involvement of Christian in an operational or investment role in the future.”

The purchase of a stake in the Alpine team — presumably with the help of investors given the team’s ballooning value — would put Horner in the unusual situation of having a high-profile business connection to long-time rival Toto Wolff.

Wolff’s Mercedes team is supplying Alpine with power units from this season after Renault shuttered its longstanding F1 engine department following years of underperformance.

The rivalry between Wolff and Horner exploded in 2021 as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled over a drivers championship that went down to a controversial final round in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen won the title, but Mercedes claimed the constructors crown.

Despite the conflict regularly descending to a personal level, Wolff admitted that he has been feeling Horner’s absence since he was sacked.

“He’s been a wonderful, great enemy over the years,” Wolff said. “Am I missing him? It’s quite strange to come here and Christian’s not going to be around. I mean, what are you doing with him not around? That’s a bit weird.

“We’re just totally different people, but even your biggest enemy is your best friend.”

Horner also played down the fractiousness of their relationship.

“A lot of people made a lot out of the rivalry I had with him,” he said.

“I have a huge amount of respect for him. He has been tremendously successful. He has won a huge amount. He is very bright.

“We are just different people, equally competitive, just different. And sport is boring if everybody is friendly and loves each other.

“You have got to have a rivalry that will create a real interest. The worst thing is if everyone is too nicey-nicey and chummy.”