Aston Martin keep the door open for Christian Horner F1 return

Aston Martin have addressed the possibility of signing ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner.

Horner was ousted by Red Bull in July, bringing an end to his 20-year reign with the team.

He officially left Red Bull on September 22 and could return to the F1 paddock next year.

The Briton is one of F1’s most successful team principals. Under his leadership, Red Bull won eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships.

While Horner’s CV is hard to match, whether there’s an opportunity at another F1 team remains to be seen.

The BBC have reported Horner wants significant power in his next F1 role, similar to Toto Wolff at Mercedes, who holds a 33% shareholding.

This means Horner’s options might be limited, particularly if he insists on greater autonomy.

Current Aston Martin team boss Andy Cowell refused to rule out signing Horner, giving a number of coy responses.

“Christian’s taking some time out isn’t he at the moment,” Cowell said, as quoted by RN365.

“He’s probably enjoying time with friends and family. He loves this sport, though. And I wish him well with whatever he ends up doing in the future.”

‘It’s down to Horner’

Aston Martin, Haas or Alpine could be Horner’s most realistic options.

Haas owner Gene Haas has been reluctant to sell any part of the team despite their lack of success on track.

Alpine, meanwhile, have a relatively new management structure in place. 

Flavio Briatore is the team’s executive advisor, while Steve Nielsen serves as managing director. 

If Renault wanted to cut ties or reduce their stake in the team, there could be an opening for Horner there.

Cowell admitted it’s ultimately up to Horner to decide what comes next.

“I think Christian’s record speaks for itself. He’s a great competitor. I guess it’s down to Christian to work out what he wants to do,” Cowell added.

“He might want to walk away from the sport, he might want to do something else in the sport, but that’s down to Christian, isn’t it?

“I think we’ve got a strong setup, and we’re marching forward with that. We’re a relatively young team. We’ve got great facilities. We’re developing the tools, we’ve taken on strong people like Adrian [Newey], Enrico [Cardile], Gioacchino [Vino] on the aero side.

“But there are also people internally. There’s a guy called Michael Hart that works hour by hour with Adrian on aero development, Charles Wood and so on. And with Lawrence’s vision, and with the sponsorship revenues that are coming in, driven by Jeff [Slack], I think we’ve got a pretty strong team.”