Will Christian Horner come back to F1? Why he left, the rumours and what happens next

Christian Horner ran Red Bull for 20 years and won 14 world titles. Fifteen months after the team sacked him, he still hasn’t found his way back.

He’s been free to work in F1 again since the spring, he has a new book out, and his name comes up every time a team is for sale. But in his latest interviews he says he’s in no rush, and that he could live with never coming back at all.

So will he? Here’s why he left, what he’s said since, every rumour so far, and our view on whether he should.

Why Red Bull sacked him

Christian Horner with Max Verstappen and Gianpiero Lambiase in the garage at the 2025 Monaco Grand Prix. Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Red Bull sacked Horner on 9 July 2025, days after the British Grand Prix, and replaced him with Laurent Mekies from sister team Racing Bulls. The team gave no reason in its statement, but three things had been building up:

• Results. At the time, Red Bull had won only two of the first 12 races of 2025 and were fourth in the constructors’ championship. Helmut Marko later said the decision was primarily about performance.
• The power struggle. Horner had clashed with Max Verstappen’s father, Jos, and with parts of Red Bull’s Austrian management. Horner says he was told the team had become “more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing”.
• The 2024 investigation. A female colleague accused him of inappropriate behaviour. Horner denied it, and an independent lawyer cleared him, but the story never really went away.

He formally left in September 2025 with a payout reported to be around US$100 million. The deal let him return to F1 in any role from spring 2026.

Christian Horner signs autographs at the 2025 British Grand Prix, five days before Red Bull sacked him. Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

What he’s said since

Horner made his first paddock appearance since the sacking at this year’s British Grand Prix, as a guest of F1 and the FIA. “I hold no grudges against anyone,” he said. In October he launched his autobiography, Drive.

His message about coming back has been the same all autumn: only for a team that can win.

• “I don’t want to go to some midfield team just so I can be in the paddock every weekend,” he told Bild. “I’d rather mow the lawn at home, spend time with my family, and watch the race from the couch.”
• “I’d want to go back to compete and then be in a position to invoke change,” he said in New York last week. “If the right opportunity presented itself, under the right conditions, then I would be prepared to go back.”
• “I’m not chasing any specific opportunity,” he told Sky. “I’m just sitting back, looking at the sport, I’m taking some time out.”

The rumours

Christian Horner on the phone in the paddock at the 2025 Austrian Grand Prix. Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

Option	The latest	Our verdict
Alpine stake	Interested in Otro Capital’s 24%, but “I don’t see that” right now	Possible, but fading
BYD 12th team	Talks reported in May, no entry announced	The most likely long-term route
Ferrari	Called it “the dream”, then denied it	Unlikely while Vasseur is in charge
Aston Martin or Haas	Reported talks earlier this year	Unlikely: he’s ruled out the midfield
Red Bull	Mekies is signed until 2031	No

Alpine

Flavio Briatore first named Horner as an interested buyer at Alpine’s livery launch in January, and the team later confirmed he was one of the parties keen to buy investment group Otro Capital’s 24% stake. Renault’s veto on that sale expired on 7 September, and Briatore says at least seven investors are now interested.

But 24% wouldn’t give Horner control, and Alpine are a midfield team, exactly what he says he doesn’t want. Last week he sounded much cooler: “Right here, right now, I don’t see that at Alpine.”

BYD

The most interesting rumour. In May, The Race reported that Horner was in talks with BYD, the Chinese electric car giant, about a new F1 team, after he was spotted at a BYD event at the Cannes Film Festival. BYD’s special adviser Alfredo Altavilla has since said Horner is involved.

It fits what Horner wants: a big budget, a blank sheet and a stake in the team. The catch is that the existing teams don’t want a 12th entry, and starting a team from scratch would take years. Horner himself calls it “all speculation”.

Ferrari

In September, Horner told The Times that Ferrari was “the biggest brand in Formula 1. It’s the dream”, and the only team he’d join without owning part of it. A month later he took it back: “I never said it was my bloody dream!” With Fred Vasseur in charge, it would need a big shake-up at Maranello first.

Everyone else

Horner was reportedly also in talks with Aston Martin and Haas earlier this year. But by his own rules, both are midfield teams. And there’s no way back to Red Bull: Mekies has a contract until 2031.

Should he come back?

Christian Horner with Arvid Lindblad in the Red Bull garage at the 2025 British Grand Prix. Photo: Getty Images/Red Bull Content Pool

The case for. Horner’s record speaks for itself: he took over a midfield team in 2005 and turned it into one that won eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles. Few people in F1 are better at building a team, keeping sponsors happy and fighting their corner in the politics.

The case against. Red Bull got better after he left. Verstappen went on to win several races in the second half of 2025 and lost the title by just two points, and this year he’s won in Malaysia and Singapore with Red Bull’s own engine. That suggests the problems weren’t only on the car side. And the 2024 investigation would follow him to any team.

Our view: F1 is more interesting with Horner in it, but only in the right job. A minority stake at a midfield team would be a step down, and he knows it. If BYD’s project is real, it’s the one that makes sense: his own team, a manufacturer with money to spend, and the chance to prove he can win without Red Bull. If it isn’t, don’t be surprised if he stays on the sofa, at least for 2027.