Christian Horner is searching for a new role after his dismissal, but one opportunity could offer him something he never had during his two decades as Red Bull’s team principal.
Horner took charge at Milton Keynes in January 2005 before Red Bull made their debut, following the purchase of Jaguar from Ford. Though he led the team to eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships, it was the events of the last 18 months that led to his exit.
Red Bull slipped from winning 21 of 22 races in the 2023 F1 season to just 11 over the next 36. This year, they’ve managed only two wins in 12 races and are leaning heavily on Max Verstappen, who has scored 165 of their total 172 points so far.
Red Bull let Horner go without giving a clear reason and promoted Racing Bulls chief Laurent Mekies to take over as F1 CEO and team principal. Horner is now negotiating a payout that could exceed £50m, with his contract running until the end of 2030.
Christian Horner would need to pay £298m to buy a 20% stake in Alpine
There are already several paths back into F1 being discussed for the Leamington Spa native once his gardening leave from Red Bull is up. Ferrari, however, do not appear to be one of them, even with Fred Vasseur’s contract ending after the 2025 season.
Instead, FOX Sports is reporting that there’s growing talk of Horner potentially joining Alpine. Even though they just brought in Steve Nielsen as managing director in July, it wouldn’t be surprising if they at least considered what Horner could bring to the table.
However, it seems unlikely that Horner would sign on as team principal if it meant reporting directly to executive adviser Flavio Briatore and the Renault Group board. There is a way around this – he could buy into the team currently sitting last in the constructors’ standings.
Renault is open to selling a 20% stake in Alpine, which would further reduce their control after offloading 24% to an American group back in 2023. At that time, Alpine was valued at $1.36bn (£1bn), but their current value has climbed above $2bn (£1.49bn).
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This means Horner would need around $400m (£298m) for a 20% share. It’s unlikely he could cover that amount on his own, but finding investors willing to back him isn’t out of the question.
Christian Horner could partner with Bernie Ecclestone to take over Alpine
Bernie Ecclestone is reportedly one of Horner’s potential partners in the Alpine deal. At 94, the British businessman remains active in the F1 world.
The former Red Bull Racing team principal has long aspired to own an F1 team, even if only with a minority stake. With that in mind, he kept in touch with Briatore about the possibility prior to his departure from RBR.
Horner now needs to wait for the Renault Group to appoint a successor for their CEO, Luca de Meo, after the Italian resigned to take over the Kering Group that owns Gucci. His exit also raises questions about Briatore’s future at Alpine, given he was De Meo’s personal adviser.
The next CEO of Renault will have significant influence over Alpine’s direction in Formula 1 and could also impact the futures of both Horner and Briatore. Since being rebranded as Alpine ahead of the 2021 season, the team has managed just one Grand Prix win from 102 entries.
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