Christian Horner F1 return option ruled out by Martin Brundle

Former F1 driver and Sky Sports commentator Martin Brundle has revealed why Christian Horner “wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal”.

Horner was sacked as Red Bull CEO and team principal after July’s British Grand Prix following 20 years at the helm of the Milton Keynes side, having led them to all of their world championship triumphs.

The Briton was replaced by Laurent Mekies, who was promoted from sister team Racing Bulls to takeover as the new team boss of Red Bull.

Under Mekies’ short reign, Red Bull’s fortunes have been transformed, with the team enjoying an impressive resurgence since the summer break.

Max Verstappen has not finished lower than third since the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort and has claimed three victories in the past six races to keep himself in the hunt for the 2025 drivers’ world championship.

Discussing Mekies’s engineering-led approach to managing Red Bull during the latest Sky Sports F1 Show, Brundle highlighted a key reason why Horner would not want to return to the sport as a team principal.

“Very impressed and he’s handling it in a very mature way,” Brundle said. “Ego, absolutely non-existent. We’re seeing a new type of team principal these days, aren’t we? That’s why Christian wouldn’t want to come back as a team principal.

“I think with more of an engineering background, seems to be the way to tie together these vast quantities of highly specialised people in a team and he’s got help with the politics, with Helmut Marko and others.

“So I think it’ll be a collaboration on the [2026] driver choice, probably more so than in the past among the senior people in Red Bull, but I think he actually is the right man for the right time in Formula 1, and that’s the way it’s going.”

Speculation rife over Christian Horner return

In September, Horner reached a severance agreement with Red Bull which is understood to allow him to return to work in F1 in 2026.

Speculation about Horner’s next landing spot is rife. He has been linked with Ferrari, Aston Martin, Haas and Alpine. Cadillac, meanwhile, have ruled out a move for Horner.

Brundle previously revealed a clue about Horner’s next possible F1 move following a private chat with the former Red Bull boss.

“I think the current teams in Formula 1 will be pushing hard, as will other stakeholders, to say they don’t want a 12th team in Formula 1 at the moment while they’re all jockeying around trying to sort the 2026 regulations out,” Brundle said.

“That might be an extra hurdle for Christian. Formula 1’s his life – that’s where his skills and experience lie. He made it absolutely clear to me when I spoke to him that he will only come back if he’s got a skin in the game, if he’s got a share in the team and is building something, rather than being a manager as he was with Red Bull.

“He couldn’t get any shareholding in that. Toto Wolff is a good example of how to do that as a one-third shareholder in the Mercedes-Benz Formula 1 team. I’m sure there’ll be partners, as we like to call them, sponsors we might call them, and other people who might want to join Christian on that journey.”