Horner to Alpine now in doubt – Christian Horner is now a free agent having settled his claims for breach of contract with Red Bull Racing. There have been various reports on how much Horner finally settled his outstanding €110m remuneration entitlement for, with a number suggesting he accepted a significant discount to shorten his garden leave period of time.

Alpine are many F1 commentators favourite as the next F1 challenge for Horner, given Renault are pulling out of building F1 engines for next season and their F1 CEOLuca de Meo departed in June this year. The French auto manufacturer sold 24% stake in the Alpine team in 2023 to an investor group including Otro Capital, RedBird Capital Partners, and Maximum Effort Investments, through which actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, and Michael B. Jordan also invested.

With Alpine currently the bottom of the F1 pile and with no significant sign of improvement on the horizon, the thinking is that Renault no longer building power units will divest completely from the Enstone based outfit.

 

 

 

Horner has greater ambitions than Alpine

Horner meanwhile is said to be interested in team ownership as his rival Toto Wolff acquired with Mercedes back in 2013, which saw him receive a 30% share for some $50m. When Mercedes sold a one third share to Ineos in 2020, the amount believed to have been paid for a one third share was in the region of €300m. 

This puts Wolff’s investment at six times the original sum he paid, yet recent valuations of the F1 teams suggest Mercedes is in fact now worth some €6bn with only Ferrari ahead of them with a price tag of more than €7bn.

To this end it appears Horner has missed the boat in terms of booming a billionaire through F1 team ownership, although his biggest priority would be gaining overall control of the decision making for a team. He had this gifted to him by Red Bull energy drinks billionaire Didi Mateschitch, but following his death in 2022 the new directors began to claw back control.

Ex Haas F1 team boss and Netflix celebrity, Guenther Steiner, believes Horner os likely to have far greater ambitions than joining the Renault owned F1 team. “I think he will wait a little bit. He’s eager to get there [back into F1], but at the moment, I don’t think there’s anything there for him that he wants to do,” Steiner tells  The Red Flags podcast.

‘Hamilton & Ferrari set to split’

 

 

 

Horner’s payout not enough to buy F1 team

Steiner also believes that while Horner and Flavio Briatore – the de facto Alpine team boss – are close, there is only so much room for two large egos in an F1 team. “I think he wants to be part of a team owning, and I don’t think there’s anything for sale or to be headed at, even if you want to buy it, I mean, it’s a lot of money,” Steiner explained.

“I know he got a lot of money, but what he got is not enough to buy a team. He would not do anything other than being a team principal, even going to Alpine to work with Flavio. I mean that would not work, Flav and him in the top position. I mean, then Flavio would need to go, and it doesn’t look like Flav is going anywhere soon,” he added.

Clearly Christian Horner believes he can take another team to the very top of Formula One given the ruins of the Jaguar F1 team he inherited for the 2005 season. He recruited Adrian Newey the following season as the F1 guru car designer was unhappy with the scope of his role within the McLaren team. 

Within four years of Newey joining the Red Bull team, they became the dominant force in F1 winning four consecutive drivers’ and constructor titles with Sebastian Vettel from 2010-13.

Aston Martin lure disillusioned Red Bull key figure

 

 

 

Reports of a Newey veto

Steiner believes the ex-Red Bull boss will take his time before committing to a new F1 future. “He can wait. Christian doesn’t need to be in a hurry,” he said given the British bosses financial security and long term mindset.

Where Horner could find a home in a team with similar resources to those he was given at Red Bull is Aston Martin, although one F1 commentator believe a reunion with Adrian Newey is not something the F1 designer is keen upon.

Despite billionaire Lawrence Stroll assembling a dream team in terms of senior personnel at his Aston Martin team, there have been reports that Newey has a clause in his contract which in effect bars them from hiring his old boss.

TJ13’s investigative journalism uncovered social media posts made by Newey’s wife prior to his departure from the Red Bull team which suggested her husband felt unappreciated by Horner which is why he left the team. The Red Bull boss was reported as saying the all conquering RB19 car which won all but one race in 2023, was the combined efforts of the design team in Milton Keynes and not merely the result of Newey’s efforts.

Wolff Slams Antonelli, Then Doubles Down – Mercedes Make Shock Changes

 

 

 

Tensions between Newey and Horner

“Hogwash” posted Amanda Newey in January of 2024 and within four months Newey announced he would be leaving his part time design role at Red Bull Racing. Having become disillusioned with the dominance of the Mercedes power unit, Newey had relinquished his role as the team’s technical director back in 2018 and was replaced by Pierre Wache.

Whilst Newey will hold considerable sway in terms of Lawrence Stroll making senior appointments to the Aston Martin team, its almost unthinkable the bullish Canadian billionaire wold have agreed for Newey to have a veto style contract clause which would bind the team owner in terms of making future appointments.

With such wealth at his disposal Lawrence Stroll and the effective total control of affairs at the Silverstone based team, Stroll would be less affected by giving away chunks of equity to the likes of Horner, than would a corporate entity like Renault or another team owner like Gene Haas who micro manages his team’s finances.

It seems ever more likely that Aston Martin is the best fit for Horner’s future ambitions given his wish for control means the likes of Audi are not on the radar. Alpine appeared the best fit for the ex-Red Bull boss, but as Steiner argues well there’s no room for two big dogs in Enstone and after his F1 exile Briatore is going nowhere.

 

 

 

George Russell told to call Toto Wolff’s bluff

The 2025 Formula One season is hurtling towards its conclusion in Abu Dhabi and yet top driver George Russell has not contract with his Mercedes team for next season. Of course Mercedes will retain the services of the English driver but the terms on which the deal is extended are far from being agreed.

Russell will almost certainly secure fourth place in the drivers’ championship given he is currently 47 points ahead of his nearest rival in Charles Leclerc. He also has almost double the points of his rookie team mate and is the sole reason Mercedes remain in second place ahead of Ferrari and Red bull Racing.

Most drivers in Russell’s position would be nailed on already for a drive for the next couple of seasons given his pedigree and success. He has eight podiums this season so far including Mercedes only win at the Canadian Grand Prix…. READ MORE