Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner is still in \u201cshock\u201d over his sudden sacking by the team after last month\u2019s British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n
That is the claim of former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone, who believes Horner \u201cprobably doesn\u2019t want to\u201d return to F1 unless he can find a partner to help him buy a team.<\/p>\n
Will Christian Horner return to F1 after Red Bull exit?<\/p>\n
Horner was sacked by Red Bull in the aftermath of the British Grand Prix with Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies promoted as his replacement as chief executive and team principal.<\/p>\n
Horner spent more than two decades in charge of Red Bull having been appointed team principal ahead of the team\u2019s debut season in 2005.<\/p>\n
PlanetF1.com reported earlier this year<\/a> that the 51-year-old, who led Red Bull to six Constructors\u2019 and eight Drivers\u2019 titles split evenly between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen, had been approached by Ferrari prior to his exit.<\/p>\n F1 team principals: Toto Wolff the longest-serving boss after Christian Horner sack<\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 team principals: How long has each team boss been in charge?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0How to become an F1 driver: Money, dedication, talent and more<\/a><\/p>\n However, the team confirmed at last week\u2019s Hungarian Grand Prix that Fred Vasseur has signed a new multi-year contract, ending Horner\u2019s hopes of a swift return to F1 with the Scuderia<\/a>.<\/p>\n It has been speculated that Horner could seek to return to Formula 1 at some point in a team ownership capacity, potentially in a similar role to his rival Toto Wolff, team boss and one-third owner of the Mercedes squad.<\/p>\n Ecclestone, who has a close relationship with Horner, has revealed that he has \u201cmade it known\u201d to people at Red Bull that the team\u2019s handling of the team principal\u2019s exit was \u201ca little bit ruthless.\u201d<\/p>\n And he reckons Horner may opt against an F1 comeback unless he can do so on his terms.<\/p>\n Ecclestone told Sky F1: \u201cAt the moment, I think it\u2019s still a bit of a shock for him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo he will gradually get over this and realise there are other things in the world to do and he\u2019ll get on and do them.<\/p>\n \u201cI have made it known to friends there [Red Bull] that maybe it was a little bit ruthless, to do it in the way that they did it, but they didn\u2019t have much choice.<\/p>\n \u201cThey decided this was what they were going to do and they had to get on and do it.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t know how or where or whether he wants to [come back to F1].<\/p>\n \u201cHe probably doesn\u2019t want to because the position he really wanted at Red Bull was to own part of the team.<\/p>\n \u201cUnless he gets somebody to put the money up to buy a team, I can\u2019t see it happening.\u201d<\/p>\n