SINGAPORE — Ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner has been “ringing up pretty much every team owner” about a Formula 1 return, according to Aston Martin team boss Andy Cowell.
Horner has been cleared to return to Formula 1 next year after reaching $100 million (£75m) settlement with Red Bull, who sacked him as team boss and CEO in July.
Sources have told ESPN Horner is keen to return with a stake in a team rather than simply to a standard team principal role.
Aston Martin boss Cowell, hired by big-spending team owner Lawrence Stroll, suggested it is well known that Horner is enquiring everywhere he can.
“It looks as though Christian is ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment,” Cowell said on Friday ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix. “I can clearly say there are no plans for the involvement of Christian in an operational or investment role in the future.”
Sources have confirmed to ESPN that Horner recently met with a representative of Haas F1 owner Gene Haas, a meeting set up by an independent intermediary.
It is understood that the Haas representative made it clear Gene Haas has no intention of selling any stake in the team he brought to the grid in 2016.
“That’s it. Nothing has gone any further. It is finished,” Haas team principal Aayo Komatsu said on Horner this week. Pressed on the Horner situation, he said: “I’ve got nothing more to say. Like I said, you write whatever you want. I’m not fuelling that story.”
The sentiment that there will not be a follow-up meeting was confirmed by sources from both camps.
Formula 1’s popularity has boomed since the pandemic — most teams are now valued north of $1 billion. Sources have told ESPN Horner spent much of the last few months focused on finalizing his settlement with Red Bull. He is now exploring partners to bid on teams with. Alpine, currently overseen in an executive capacity by Horner’s long-time friend Flavio Briatore, might also be an option.
Alpine’s team boss Steve Nielsen said on Friday: “I don’t know what they talk about. Everything I know is there are no plans for Christian to come to Alpine but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.”
Under Horner’s leadership, Red Bull won eight drivers’ and six constructors’ championships in two different periods of dominance.
Earlier this year, before leaving Red Bull, Italian media reported Horner was being lined up to replace Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur — the Frenchman has since been handed a contract extension.
