{"id":681918,"date":"2026-05-20T00:48:11","date_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:48:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/681918\/"},"modified":"2026-05-20T00:48:11","modified_gmt":"2026-05-20T00:48:11","slug":"christian-horner-reportedly-partners-up-with-byd-for-audacious-f1-bid","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/681918\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Horner reportedly partners up with BYD for audacious F1 bid"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner<\/a> might become instrumental in Chinese EV giants BYD\u2019s rumored bid to enter Formula 1<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Interest in F1 has ramped up, both from a sporting and a commercial side of things, in the recent times.<\/p>\n

The 2026 technical overhaul has attracted big-name manufacturers like Audi, Ford and Cadillac into the fray \u2013 and it would appear a 12th team is teeming to get into the ranks. <\/p>\n

BYD<\/a>, now officially the leading electric car manufacturer, is rumored to be highly interested in placing a bid to enter the sport. <\/p>\n

Hot on the heels of this particular news, Horner has seemingly also dropped his hat into this particular conversation after having reportedly concluded several meetings with BYD Vice President, Stella Li. <\/p>\n

The former Red Bull Team Principal and CEO has been desperately looking for a way back into the paddock after his unceremonious ousting from the team last year in July. <\/p>\n

While he was earlier reported to be in a bidding war against Mercedes<\/a> for a 24% stake (held by Otro Capital) in Alpine, it would appear he now has his sights firmly set on bigger stakes. <\/p>\n

BYD is not interested in acquiring minority stake, rather, the Chinese automobile giants want to leverage their $125bn net-worth on becoming F1\u2019s 12th team on the grid.<\/p>\n

No confirmation has been rendered by either of the parties but it is understood that Horner was at Cannes as a guest of BYD, further fueling the speculation around this potential partnership. <\/p>\n

BYD confirms close contact with F1 amid potential entry rumours<\/p>\n

The Chinese Grand Prix weekend was a crucial turning point in this ever-evolving story. <\/p>\n

As it turns out, Li was in \u201cclose contact\u201d with the FOM and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali at Shanghai. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe are always in close contact,\u201d she said. \u201cI like Formula 1 because it\u2019s about passion and culture, and people dream of being in Formula 1.\u201d<\/p>\n

FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has maintained a optimistic outlook with respect to a bid from BYD. <\/p>\n

\u201cIf there is a Chinese [bid], and I will speak on behalf of them[FOM] now in front of you, they will agree to that, because it is about sustaining the business,\u201d Ben Sulayem has said. <\/p>\n

Domenicali, on the other hand, has erred on the side of caution. \u201cWe\u2019ll only evaluate a bid of great significance because I think we\u2019re already at a point with no more room; logistically, we\u2019re at the limit,\u201d the Italian said. <\/p>\n

The current Concorde Agreement in place mandates place for up to 12 teams on the grid, therefore, a BYD bid is not out of place completely. <\/p>\n

That said, if Andretti and Cadillac\u2019s long-drawn-out tussle to get on the grid is anything to go by, BYD has a long road ahead if it is serious about entering the sport. <\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Christian Horner backed to take Audi F1 Team Principal job <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner might become instrumental in Chinese EV giants BYD\u2019s rumored bid to enter Formula…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":681919,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,817,71584,806,805,803,804,85],"class_list":["post-681918","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-horner","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681918","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=681918"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/681918\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/681919"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=681918"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=681918"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=681918"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}