OCTOBER 22, 2025

Christian Horner could stage a sensational Formula 1 comeback heading a new or purchased team worth more than 1.5 billion pounds, according to London’s The Times.

Christian Horner, Canadian GP 2025
© Red Bull

The newspaper claims the ousted Red Bull boss has been approached by wealthy investors eager to collaborate, giving him enough capital to buy an entire outfit – though not one of the most-expensive established top four.

Horner is said to want ownership control rather than a team principal role after his Red Bull exit, and has ruled out a full-time move to Italy despite recent Ferrari links.

The Times adds that the 51-year-old can return to the paddock from April 2026 following his contract settlement and that FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali would not oppose his return. The paper concludes Horner could come back with more power than ever before.

In Auto Motor und Sport, journalist Michael Schmidt suggested the ‘tape-gate’ antics at Red Bull – a mechanic removing McLaren’s grid-pitwall tape in Austin – were a leftover from the harsher Horner-led days, hinting that old habits die hard at Milton Keynes.

If you have to resort to these kinds of tactics, it’s really quite a shame, he said. “I don’t know what that mechanic was thinking.

Laurent Mekies isn’t really someone who would order this. He’s actually very sporting. He hasn’t been at Red Bull long, at least not with the main team, so maybe these are old habits.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, meanwhile, believes Horner will inevitably re-emerge somewhere on the grid.

It’s clear that when someone like him leaves, all you can think about is that he’ll come back, Wolff said. “The world moves on quickly. I believe he will come back, but when and where? I don’t know.

Maybe he became too much of a personality within his team. A person should be able to look at themselves in the mirror every night and say: ‘Have I been a bit of an idiot today?’ That kind of self-reflection keeps your feet on the ground when you’re winning races and the cameras are rolling.

(GMM)