Christian Horner has outlined the circumstances in which he\u2019d like to return to Formula 1, in his first public statements since his split with Red Bull Racing.<\/p>\n
The former team boss and CEO of Red Bull\u2019s F1 operations departed the Milton Keynes-based squad after last season\u2019s British Grand Prix, with the parent company opting for change after 21 years of racing with Horner at the helm.<\/p>\n
Christian Horner: I don\u2019t need to go back to F1<\/p>\n
Want more PlanetF1.com coverage? Add us as a preferred source on Google<\/a> to your favourites list for news you can trust<\/p>\n Since his departure from the paddock, Horner has been the subject of intense speculation about his next moves in F1.<\/p>\n Having become one of the most successful team leaders in the history of the sport with 124 Grand Prix wins and 14 titles, Horner is an obvious candidate for any high-level management position, and he has been duly linked with various positions across the grid \u2013 the most prominent of which have been Aston Martin and Alpine.<\/p>\n With Horner\u2019s position having long been understood to have been one in which the British executive was actively seeking a shareholding or ownership position for his next role in F1, he confirmed this stance during his first public appearance since being removed from his posts at Red Bull when he arrived in Dublin this weekend.<\/p>\n PlanetF1.com was in attendance for Horner\u2019s appearance at the European Motor Show at the RDS in Dublin, where he spoke to the media and assembled fans about the speculation that has surrounded him over the past seven months.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s been fascinating\u2026I stepped out of Red Bull on July 8th, and this is the first time I\u2019ve actually spoken to anybody,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHaving a bit of time out has been fascinating\u2026 I think I\u2019ve been going to every single Formula 1 team at some point, which has ranged from the back of the grid to the front of the grid to the middle of the grid.<\/p>\n \u201cIt just seems there\u2019s an appetite in the media about\u00a0what am I going to do? Where am I going to go?<\/p>\n \u201cThe reality is, until the spring, I can\u2019t do anything anyway, and so it\u2019s very flattering to keep being associated with all these different teams.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the only one I haven\u2019t been associated with yet is with Red Bull<\/a>, but you never know!\u201d he joked.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had 21 incredible years in Formula 1, and I\u2019ve had a great run. I\u2019ve won a lot of races and championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve worked with some amazing drivers, engineers, partners, and just people. It\u2019s a people business.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t need to go back. I could stop my career now, and I\u2019ve had a great run, and I think I would only go back for the right opportunity to work with great people, to work in an environment where people want to win, and they share that desire.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to be a partner, as opposed to just a hired hand. But, yeah, we\u2019ll see. We\u2019ll see how things play out. I\u2019m not in any rush.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t need to do anything, and it\u2019s quite nice after not only 21 years in Formula 1, but 10 years before that on the road in Formula 2 or Formula 3000.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a bit nice having a bit of time out at the moment with my family, my kids, and they sort of recognise who I am again!\u201d<\/p>\n Christian Horner: I\u2019ve got unfinished business in F1<\/p>\n The apparent leading candidate for Horner\u2019s return appears to be a potential purchase of Otro Capital\u2019s 24 per cent stake in Alpine, which PlanetF1.com recently revealed cannot be sold until September<\/a> without the full approval of the majority shareholder, the Renault Group.<\/p>\n Alpine recently confirmed that Horner, as part of a group of investors, has expressed interest in the stake, with any discussions taking place with Otro Capital and the Renault Group.<\/p>\n But the 52-year-old said any return to the paddock will only come if he finds the right challenge to inspire him, rather than simply taking up the first opportunity that comes his way.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t want to go back into the paddock unless I have something to do\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI miss the sport, I miss the people, I miss the team that I built, you know, some great people and personalities.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019ve enjoyed this period of time out and having time.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m sure there\u2019s going to be loads of speculation, but I\u2019m peaceful in myself at the moment, where, if there\u2019s the right opportunity, then I definitely will have a good look at it.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel like I\u2019ve got unfinished business in Formula 1. It didn\u2019t finish the way that I would have liked it to have finished.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I\u2019m not going to come back for just anything. I\u2019m only going to come back for something that can win.\u201d<\/p>\n Christian Horner spoke for the first time in seven months at the European Motor Show today, and says he has \u201cunfinished business\u201d in #F1<\/a>\u2026 pic.twitter.com\/i7CdC8BMus<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Thomas Maher (@thomasmaheronf1) January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n Christian Horner \u2018proud\u2019 to see RBPT become a reality<\/p>\n This week marked the arrival of the first Red Bull Powertrain engine in the back of a Red Bull car, marking the commencement of Horner\u2019s former team as a fully fledged autonomous manufacturer in its own right, joining the likes of Audi, Ferrari, and Mercedes.<\/p>\n RBPT had been initiated and overseen by Horner in 2022, having convinced the late Dietrich Mateschitz and the Red Bull board that the path was the correct one to take after Honda\u2019s then-latest withdrawal from F1 after the \u201921 season.<\/p>\n Landing a technical partnership with Ford months later, Red Bull\u2019s engine department has swelled to several hundred employees under technical director Ben Hodgkinson, with Horner\u2019s involvement in the project coming to an end just a few short months before the first engine hit the track in the back of the RB22 and the VCARB03.<\/p>\n The engine proved reliable right from the start, with Isack Hadjar logging over 100 laps at its very first attempt.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019ve had a great time in the sport, I gave it my everything, and I\u2019m very proud of what I achieved,\u201d Horner said.<\/p>\n \u201cI was very proud this week to see the engine in the back of the Red Bull running in Barcelona, because that arguably was one of the biggest things that I achieved in my time there, when we took an engine concept from almost five years ago today.<\/p>\n \u201cWe kicked that off when we had, I think, one engineer who worked in engines before, and we had an old bubble wrap factory on the estate. I convinced the board to do it, and then had to go and recruit 600 people and build a factory in the facility.<\/p>\n \u201cSo I was very proud to see that, running this week, I had some lovely messages from the circuit and the drivers. Hopefully, that will go well for them.\u201d<\/p>\n Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp<\/a> to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists.<\/p>\n You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel<\/a> for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more!<\/p>\n Read Next:\u00a0Aston Martin signs former Ferrari sponsor ahead of F1 2026 season<\/a><\/p>\n