Christian Horner could be back in the Formula 1 very soon, with the former Red Bull team principal emerging as a contender to replace Aston Martin’s current boss Andy Cowell.

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Multiple reports on Monday indicated that Cowell, the current team principal and CEO, is on the verge of being moved on.

According to a report from The Race, he is still likely to remain at Aston Martin but in a new role “that will be more focused on its power unit progress” ahead of its new partnership with Honda.

Either way, Cowell’s reported new role will open up a vacancy at Aston Martin and BBC Sport reports that Horner has been “pushing hard for a leadership role” along with a shareholding in the team.

That is consistent with reporting from ESPN, which claims Horner could fill the leadership void left by Cowell in “some capacity”, again referencing the twist that he does not want to return to the F1 solely as a team principal but also as part of an investment deal.

Horner isn’t the only one reportedly in the running for the role, with Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll said to have also approached McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl, current head of the Audi F1 project Mattia Binotto and Aston Martin’s former CEO Martin Whitmarsh.

The BBC report claims that Cowell has been at loggerheads with the team’s new managing technical partner Adrian Newey, who coincidentally left Red Bull because of a reported falling out with Horner.

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The pair once had a close relationship but that was reportedly strained by allegations of inappropriate behaviour against Horner. In fact, BBC reported that one Red Bull source claimed Newey “told colleagues he did not want to be in the same room as Horner”.

Horner was cleared by two separate internal investigations, but the ongoing saga was said to be a factor in Newey’s decision to leave Red Bull in 2024.

Despite all of that, ESPN reports that sources familiar with the situation believe Newey and Horner would not have any issues working together again, while the pair even attended an Oasis concert together over the summer.

While that may be the case, as ESPN points out, Stroll’s interest in trying to lure Max Verstappen to Astin Martin in the future could work against Horner given the fractures in his relationship with Verstappen’s father Jos. Horner and Max, on the other hand, are said to have a “good relationship” according to ESPN, which is all that may matter.

Horner split with Red Bull in July earlier this year after agreeing on a severance package with his former team that reportedly allows him to return to the F1 in 2026.

An Aston Martin spokesperson told BBC: “The team will not be engaging in rumour or speculation. The focus is on maximising performance in the remaining races and preparing for 2026.”