Could Christian Horner to Aston Martin shut the door on Max Verstappen move?

1996 F1 world champion Damon Hill has questioned whether Aston Martin’s rumoured interest in Christian Horner could prevent them from moving for Max Verstappen in the future.

On Sunday morning, rumours emerged claiming that current Aston Martin CEO and team principal Andy Cowell is set to be replaced.

According to the BBC, there has been a disagreement between Cowell and design guru Adrian Newey.

Cowell, who was mainly responsible for Mercedes’ dominant hybrid engine at the start of 2014, joined Aston Martin in 2024 before taking over from Mike Krack as team principal.

However, team owner Lawrence Stroll looks poised to make a change ahead of a big year for the team in 2026.

Horner is on Stroll’s shortlist as he looks to hire a new team principal.

With new technical regulations coming into play next year, Aston Martin are hoping that 2026 is the year they finally become a consistent front-running team.

Newey is spearheading their design team, while they’ve heavily invested in their Silverstone headquarters.

Aston Martin have also joined forces with Honda for 2026, effectively becoming a works team, which could give them an edge.

Horner is out of work after leaving Red Bull earlier this year.

Widely regarded as one of F1’s greatest-ever team principals, Horner has been linked with a host of teams over the past few months.

Horner’s Red Bull exit came after a decline in form for the team and a number of high-profile departures.

While Verstappen didn’t publicly scold Horner, his father — Jos Verstappen — did most of the talking.

It wasn’t until Horner’s exit that Verstappen committed his future to Red Bull for 2026, ending speculation of a possible switch to Mercedes.

Hill has suggested that a move for Horner could prevent Aston Martin from signing Verstappen in the future.

Aston Martin have been heavily linked with Verstappen, as well as Charles Leclerc, over the past year.

Hill wrote on his Instagram account: “Would this preclude Max ever going to Aston? Or is it all just mischief?”

Aston Martin’s options

Aston Martin have several other options outside of Horner.

Former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has been linked.

Seidl was McLaren boss from 2019 to 2022, before being replaced by Andrea Stella.

Seidl became Sauber/Audi CEO but left the organisation, paving the way for former Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto to spearhead the German brand’s F1 project.

Binotto has also been linked with Aston Martin, but that seems unlikely given his prominent role at Audi.

Martin Whitmarsh has also been rumoured to be on Stroll’s shortlist.

Whitmarsh was recently Aston Martin’s Group CEO, departing in 2023.

He was also at McLaren during Lewis Hamilton’s stint at Woking, taking over from Ron Dennis as team principal in 2009.