Christian Horner has emerged as a candidate to take a leadership role at Aston Martin’s Formula 1 team.
The BBC first reported Aston Martin is looking to move on from current team principal Andy Cowell, who previously was the architect of Mercedes’ dominant engine of the last decade.
Souces have told ESPN that Cowell looks likely to be moved over into a role overseeing Aston Martin’s power unit project as the team moves into a new engine partnership with Honda from 2026.
Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll has big ambitions to establish his team as champions under F1’s incoming new regulations, which has included signing design legend Adrian Newey and the building of a state-of-the-art F1 facility at Silverstone.
Horner is understood to be on the shortlist to fill the leadership void in some capacity — various reports also have former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl and current Sauber/Audi CEO Mattia Binotto, who was Ferrari boss between 2019 and 2023, as candidates too.
Horner recently agreed a settlement believed to be worth $100 million (£76m) with Red Bull freeing him up to return to Formula 1 in early 2026.
ESPN sources have previously identified Aston Martin as one of Horner’s most likely destinations and have also told ESPN that Horner does not intend to return to F1 in a traditional team boss role only — it is likely he will return with financial clout behind him as part of a investment deal.
At Red Bull Horner had become CEO and team boss by the end of his tenure but ultimately had no skin in the game beyond that.
A move to Aston Martin would link Horner back up with Newey, who left Red Bull in 2023 to join Aston Martin as technical director and a co-owner of the team.
Horner and Newey helped turn Red Bull into a powerhouse which dominated F1 in the early 2010s and the start of the current decade.
While there was speculation Newey left Red Bull due to a rift with Horner, sources familiar with the situation have told ESPN neither would have a problem working with each other again.
One potential wrinkle in a Horner move to Aston Martin might be Lawrence Stroll’s known desire to bring Max Verstappen to the team in future should it emerge as the dominant force under F1’s new rules.
Horner and Verstappen’s father Jos had a famously frosty relationship in the years leading up to the former’s departure, although Horner and the four-time world champion are believed to have maintained a good relationship.
