Christian Horner: Could former Red Bull team principal join Alpine or Ferrari in 2026 after gardening leave? | F1 News

The sudden dismissal of Red Bull by Christian Horner left him unemployed for the rest of 2025 and he will not be in the Paddock of Formula 1 during the next race in Belgium for the first time in almost 21 years.

Sky Sports News Understands that Horner is serving a period of garden leave until the end of this year, so a return to F1 will only take place as of January 2026.

In an emotional speech to Red Bull staff in Milton Keynes on Thursday, the 51 -year -old said that he would spend time with his family and said “who knows what the future has in store for me?”.

Having tried to go to F1 as a driver, Horner became a team boss at 25 in 1999 in F3000 – which is the current equivalent of Formula 2.

After the success in F3000, Horner was chosen as director of the Red Bull team when they joined the grid in 2005, becoming the youngest director of the team in F1 at the age of 31, and made a team that was qualified as several championship winners.

The motor racing is in his blood and his success in Red Bull will surely make him a candidate for most of the F1 teams.

Horner to replace Vasseur in Ferrari?

Over the past two months, German and Italian media reports have said that Frederic Vasseur’s position as team director at Ferrari was threatened.

Vasseur struck the Italian outlets and said he had been able to face the situation, but suggested “disrespectful” and “very hard” speculation on other people working under him in Ferrari destabilized the team.

In May, German publication Ball said Ferrari has established “informal” contact with Horner, who rejected the report.

“It’s always very flattering to be associated with other teams,” he said Sky Sports F1 At the end of May.

“All my career has been devoted to Red Bull and I am absolutely committed to this team. There are so many rumors and speculations these days, it is not even worth listening to.”

Now Horner has time to consider Ferrari as an option if Vasseur is subject to increasing pressure but Sky Sports F1Karun Chandhok thinks that Horner is unlikely to join the most famous F1 team

“These rumors about Ferrari have continued to appear in the last decade,” he said on The F1 show podcast.

“I think that a combination of Christian and Adrian Newey in Ferrari was a much more attractive package for Ferrari. I could see him land on Alpine more than I could see him land in Ferrari now.

“I think Ferrari will try to build their own thing. And there are many other factors that arrive, at this stage of the career and life of Christian, want to uproot everything?”

Sky Sports F1Ted Kravitz also argued that Lewis Hamilton, who has a Ferrari contract until the end of 2026, would probably not be impressed if Horner replaces Vasseur, which he firmly supported.

“There was a lot of water under this particular relational bridge between Lewis Hamilton and Christian Horner,” said Kravitz.

“You never know, you have to work with everyone in this business, but I’m not sure Lewis, having been so noisy and supported Fred Vasseur in the last month about the last month, would have been happy to see Ferrari Losing Vasseur and replacing him with Christian Horner.

“They were not exactly dinner dates constant with each other, right? I’m not sure it would work and John Elkann [Ferrari chairman] Could have thought about this.

“Charles Leclerc has no history with Christian Horner, but Lewis is a bit. Maybe it’s something to consider.”

Alpine the most likely destination?

Given that Oliver Oakes left Alpine as team director in May for personal reasons, the Enstone -based outfit saw a lot of change and Horner would surely provide a very necessary clear figure figure.

Alpine appointed the experienced sports director Steve Nielsen as director general of the September Italian Grand Prix to supervise the team’s daily race.

Although Dave Greenwood has resumed the official Oakes functions, Flavio Briatore is the director of the de facto team but apparently wants to be adviser, leaving the main role of the available team.

“Alpine is another British team, Flavio is there, with a team that is like Red Bull,” said Kravitz.

“In fact, most Ensoints and Milton Keynes joined each other. Many people in Enstone are an ex-wrist and vice versa. It would be a much easier place for Horner.

“I think that the Ferrari option, tempting that it could have been, especially a few months ago, knowing what was going to happen today, it might have thought:” Oh, maybe I should have taken this “. But I think he has already decided not to do Ferrari. And if Alpine is a option, then it’s a much better way to go.”

A drawback could be Horner’s tense relationship with what was then Renault during the first years of the turbo-hybrid era between 2014 and 2018.

Red Bull directed the Power Renault units, but the engine has often dropped them with several end -of -race problems and a clear performance deficit for Ferrari and Mercedes, which finally led to the end of the relationship and to Red Bull in partnership with Honda in 2019.

However, many has changed to Renault, now called Alpine, and the team would be the most natural crisis according to Chandhok.

“From where he lives, the journey to Enetone will be roughly the same as the journey to Milton Keynes, so I can see that it is a more likely destination,” he said.

“He and Flavio are both very old friends of Bernie Ecclestone. Bernie brought Christian to F1 when Red Bull bought the team. He played a decisive role in Christian to recover this work in 2005.

“Flavio does not want to be director of the team. He does not want to manage the team day by day. He has Steve Nielsen there as managing director, but I can imagine that there are a few wheels and wheels turned in the background so that Christian has at least one role there.”

What are the other Horner options?

There is no chance that Horner finds himself in McLaren or Mercedes, Williams has just signed James Vowles on a long -term agreement and the former director of the Red Bull Sporting, Jonathan Wheatley, took a big life in Sauber.

This leaves Haas, which may not be attractive enough for Horner, and Aston Martin as options. The latter would see Horner find the legendary designer Adrian Newey.

The owner of Aston Martin, Lawrence Stroll, has ambitions to win world titles, so could he make a shock decision to obtain a job in Horner in the Silverstone-based outfit? Andy Cowell only became director of the team at the beginning of this year, it would therefore be difficult to withdraw it in this role before the new regulation in 2026 when Aston Martin could become the favorites.

Sky Sports F1Martin Brundle thinks that Horner would like to participate in an F1 team, but thinks that sport is changing with more technical people by becoming director of the team.

“The Talisman or the Maverick team leaders that we saw changing. James Vowles directs Williams, Jonathan Wheatley is in Sauber, Andrea Stella in McLaren,” said Brundle.

“We see people with a great varied experience now.

“”[Instead] People who know nuts and bolts of how a Formula 1 team gathers, how it moves, how it works and how it works at its best [are in charge]. “”

Horner could also look outside a team role by following the traces of the former owners of Ferrari Jean Todt and Stefano Domenicimi who took care of the FIA ​​and F1 respectively.

Whatever decides to do, it is almost certain that Horner will be back in F1 to a certain extent …

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