the announcement of a speaking tour in Australia starting later this month<\/a>. <\/p>\nBut speculation has been rife that he is seeking a return to the paddock, preferably via the purchase of a stake in a team, elevating him above the contracted chief executive status he enjoyed for two decades at Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n
Speaking to Press Association at the European Motor Show in Dublin, Horner said that he felt he still had more to give in Formula 1 but that he wouldn\u2019t contemplate a comeback without an ownership share.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel like I have unfinished business in Formula 1,\u201d he said. \u201cIt didn\u2019t finish the way that I would have liked it to finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut I am not going to come back for just anything. I am only going to come back for something that can win. I don\u2019t want to go back in the paddock unless I have something to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cI miss the sport, I miss the people, I miss the team that I built.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had 21 incredible years in Formula 1. I had a great run, won a lot of races, championships and worked with some amazing drivers, engineers and partners.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t need to go back. I could stop my career now. So I would only go back for the right opportunity to work with great people and to work in an environment where people want to win, and they shared that desire.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would want to be a partner rather than just a hired hand, but we will see how it plays out. I am not in a rush. I don\u2019t need to do anything.\u201d<\/p>\n
Hamilton sets fastest lap at F1 testing | 01:09<\/p>\n
Horner has been connected to several teams but most closely linked to Renault-owned Alpine, in which a group of investors led by Otro Capital holds a 24 per cent stake that it is interested in selling.<\/p>\n
Horner, however, poured cold water on the prospect of a deal being in the works.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat has been fascinating is that I stepped out of Red Bull on July 8, and this is the first time I have actually spoken to anyone,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[In the media] I think I have been going to every single Formula 1 team, which has ranged from the back of the grid, to the middle of the grid and to the front of the grid. And there just seems to be an appetite as to: \u2018What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThe reality is that until the [northern] spring I can\u2019t do anything anyway. It is very flattering to keep being associated with all of these different teams.\u201d<\/p>\n
Alpine boss Flavio Briatore, however, has stated explicitly that Horner is \u201cnegotiating\u201d to buy Otro\u2019s stake in the team.<\/p>\n
\u201cOtro wants to sell their participation in Alpine,\u201d he said, per Autosport. \u201cIt\u2019s a few groups interested to buy 24 per cent.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut it has no link with me, because he [Horner] is negotiating with Otro, not negotiating with us [Renault].\u201d<\/p>\n
The team subsequently confirmed via a statement that Horner has expressed interest in buying into the team and that Otro has held preliminary talks about selling its stake.<\/p>\n
Otro \u2014 along with RedBird Capital Partners and Maximum Effort Investments, the latter led by actors Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney and Michael B Jordan \u2014 bought its share in the Alpine team for \u20ac200 million ($337.9 million) in 2023, which valued the team at around $1.4 billion.<\/p>\n
Formula 1 valuations have risen considerably since then. The sale of a 15 per cent share in Mercedes valued the team at $7.1 billion last November.<\/p>\n
Despite his protestations, Horner is known to have approached at least two other teams, with both Aston Martin and Haas saying last September that they had been contacted by the axed team boss.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is true that he approached us,\u201d Haas principal Ayao Komatsu said at the time. \u201cOne of our guys had an exploratory talk and that\u2019s it. Nothing has gone any further. It is finished.\u201d<\/p>\n
The then Aston Martin chief, Andy Cowell, added: \u201cIt looks as though Christian is ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment. I can clearly say there are no plans for the involvement of Christian in an operational or investment role in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n
Feeney FASTEST in Red Bull’s F1 car?! | 08:37<\/p>\n
The purchase of a stake in the Alpine team \u2014 presumably with the help of investors given the team\u2019s ballooning value \u2014 would put Horner in the unusual situation of having a high-profile business connection to long-time rival Toto Wolff.<\/p>\n
Wolff\u2019s Mercedes team is supplying Alpine with power units from this season after Renault shuttered its longstanding F1 engine department following years of underperformance.<\/p>\n
The rivalry between Wolff and Horner exploded in 2021 as Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen battled over a drivers championship that went down to a controversial final round in Abu Dhabi. Verstappen won the title, but Mercedes claimed the constructors crown.<\/p>\n
Despite the conflict regularly descending to a personal level, Wolff admitted that he has been feeling Horner\u2019s absence since he was sacked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s been a wonderful, great enemy over the years,\u201d Wolff said. \u201cAm I missing him? It\u2019s quite strange to come here and Christian\u2019s not going to be around. I mean, what are you doing with him not around? That\u2019s a bit weird.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re just totally different people, but even your biggest enemy is your best friend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Horner also played down the fractiousness of their relationship.<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people made a lot out of the rivalry I had with him,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have a huge amount of respect for him. He has been tremendously successful. He has won a huge amount. He is very bright.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are just different people, equally competitive, just different. And sport is boring if everybody is friendly and loves each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou have got to have a rivalry that will create a real interest. The worst thing is if everyone is too nicey-nicey and chummy.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christian Horner says he has \u201cunfinished business\u201d in Formula 1 as the former Red Bull Racing boss eyes…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":455038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[944,2095,16188,1724,64,63,689,234674,937,2115,2065,234675,1199,38753,167547,234676,234668,21779,31403,234665,2057,817,2051,813,816,2105,876,234670,119701,26779,84835,2082,825,234673,181777,938,2041,2067,3583,677,2083,234669,2114,232595,234667,233881,12022,2111,2118,234672,234666,10694,2088,3595,2020,85,234671,2094,41547,102397,2614,12000,45683],"class_list":["post-455037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-abu-dhabi","tag-america","tag-andy-cowell","tag-asia","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-axed-team-boss","tag-barcelona","tag-bull-racing-team","tag-canada","tag-chief-executive-status","tag-christian-horner","tag-cold-water","tag-constructors-crown","tag-contracted-chief-executive","tag-controversial-final-round","tag-drivers-championship","tag-dublin","tag-engine-department","tag-europe","tag-f1","tag-file-photo","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-gilles-villeneuve","tag-high-profile-business-connection","tag-investment-role","tag-ireland","tag-laighin","tag-mark-thompson","tag-max-verstappen","tag-mercedes-confident","tag-michael-b-jordan","tag-montreal","tag-north-america","tag-northern-america","tag-northern-europe","tag-oceania","tag-oracle-corporation","tag-ownership-share","tag-pit-wall","tag-preliminary-talks","tag-press-association-ltd","tag-promising-testing-session","tag-province-of-barcelona","tag-quebec","tag-racing-team-principal","tag-real-interest","tag-redbird-capital-partners","tag-rob-mcelhenney","tag-ryan-reynolds","tag-southern-europe","tag-spain","tag-sports","tag-supercars-ampamp-formula","tag-team-boss","tag-team-owner","tag-unfinished-business","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-western-asia","tag-wolff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=455037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/455037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/455038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=455037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=455037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=455037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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