10/10/2025 07:20
Immediately after the bombshell news broke earlier this year that
Christian Horner had been sacked by Red Bull as team principal and
CEO, and the articles had been written, videos recorded, and Helmut
Marko's few words published, everybody's favourite guessing game
began. Where would Horner end up next? It was not as
straightforward as him turning up at the Belgian Grand Prix
sporting new team gear. He still had to come to a settlement with
Red Bull over his contract and then serve a period of gardening
leave, usually the best part of a year for a senior figure such as
Horner. In late September, it was confirmed that he had received an
eight-figure sum somewhere north of £50 million, and had formally
cut all ties with Red Bull, bringing to an end a glorious 20-year
spell in which he had transformed a fizzy energy drink racing team
into one of the all-time great F1 marques. Crucially, in announcing
Horner's formal departure on the day after the Azerbaijan Grand
Prix, Red Bull revealed that a period of nine months' gardening
leave had been agreed, and was back-dated to July 9, 2025 - the day
Horner's sacking was announced, although he had been informed the
evening prior. That means Horner is free to work for another team
in F1 from April 9, 2025, but finding one, even for a team
principal as successful as he is, will be a challenge. The article
continues below. Horner's potential comeback Come 2026, there will
be 11 teams on the grid once Cadillac formally joins, but at least
six of these can be ruled out as potential destinations for Horner,
if, indeed, he wants to return simply as a team principal. But it
is believed that he has set his sights higher, on potentially
becoming a team owner. Red Bull and Racing Bulls are not going to
re-hire the person they sacked nine months before, and to whom they
paid a rather healthy amount of money. Horner is not going to go
to McLaren, given the personal animosity between him and Zak Brown,
which ignited when McLaren Racing's CEO wrote a letter to the FIA
after Red Bull was found to have breached the 2021 cost cap,
saying, without naming Red Bull, that an overspend by any team
would "constitute cheating". That led to a rather awkward team
principal's press conference in the United States, where Horner
gave a passionate defence of his team, whilst Brown looked on with
a face that would do thunder an understatement. Williams boss
James Vowles firmly ruled out Horner as an option in Azerbaijan,
and given the legacy of the bitter 2021 feud, there is more chance
of Lord Lucan being found riding Shergar than Horner working with
Toto Wolff at Mercedes. Haas's Ayao Komatsu revealed an approach
from Horner for a more senior role than team principal in Baku, but
that "nothing has gone any further". Komatsu also added that he was
not "going to fuel the story" any more of Horner seeking a higher
role than team principal, but equally, it's not a firm denial, like
Vowles, of saying, 'No room at the inn, guv." Aston Martin team
principal and CEO Andy Cowell revealed in Baku that Horner had been
"ringing everybody" to seek a route back into F1, but there were
"no plans" to bring him in. It is unlikely Ferrari will be an
option for Horner, considering he would have to move to Italy and
potentially his family to Maranello. The article continues below.
Horner 'not a billionaire' If Horner wants to move into an
ownership role, the first thing he is going to need to do is find
some backers. Yes, he is newly minted, but these deep pockets are
merely a drop in the ocean required to buy a Formula 1 team. He is
not a billionaire like Lawrence Stroll. So, leading a consortium
would be his best bet if he wanted to follow that route, but that
would be the long-term plan, over several years. Finding and
raising that sort of money to buy a team is not the work of a
nine-month gardening leave, no matter how well-connected Horner is.
But in the short term, Horner needs to find a way back into F1,
even if it is as a team principal or racing director, and to do
that, he should keep his powder dry. Given the huge scale of the
2026 regulations overhaul, some teams will get it badly wrong, and
as such, team principal changes should not be ruled out, as Horner
discovered when Red Bull booted him out, and that when it comes to
performance, the buck stops with the team principal. Essentially,
if Horner keeps himself on the edge, peering in but not drawing
attention to himself, next spring, he could find himself as an
effective 'gun for hire' and give Team X a boost after a poor start
to the season. There are far worse options out there than Horner,
who can be prickly and aggressive, but as Red Bull found out, he
is someone capable of building and rebuilding teams to challenge
for a world championship.
