This season, Red Bull bid farewell to its long-standing team boss, Christian Horner. After the British GP, he was abruptly replaced by Laurent Mekies. For some time now, Horner has been linked with a return to the competition, including the Haas team. However, Günther Steiner, who himself was at the helm of the Americans for eight years, expects Horner to keep his distance from the sport for the time being, until the right project comes along.
Following the Azerbaijan GP, Red Bull announced that it had officially parted ways with Christian Horner. The former team boss had already been relieved of his duties, but after several months of discussion, both parties finally reached a settlement – reportedly, Horner will receive a hundred million dollars over the next five years for his departure. Not a bad severance package, indeed. Yet, Horner – who won eight driver titles and six constructor championships during his tenure – does not want to rest on his laurels. There are many rumors that he is working on a comeback.
Horner has already been linked with Ferrari, Alpine, Aston Martin, and Haas. According to The Daily Mail, he is interested in a role with the American midfield team. However, former Haas chief Günther Steiner has his doubts: “I think Horner will wait a bit longer,” he stated in The Red Flags podcast. “He is eager to return, but at this moment I don’t think there is anything for him.” When asked what he thinks Horner wants to do, Steiner replied: “I think he always wants to work for a team that he partly owns, but at this moment nothing is for sale. I know he has a lot of money, but he really doesn’t have the resources to buy a team outright.”
According to Steiner, Horner is only looking for one role within Formula 1. “He just wants to be a team boss,” he explained. “Even at Alpine, he wouldn’t be able to share the spotlight with Flavio (Briatore). Then Flavio would have to leave, but he’s not going anywhere for now.” A move to Aston Martin is also ruled out, assures Steiner. “They don’t need Horner there now,” he said in a separate interview with Lottoland. This would mainly be due to the presence of Adrian Newey, former star designer of Red Bull. “There was a lot of internal dissatisfaction at Red Bull, something had to change. The disagreement between Newey and Horner last year was one of the reasons Newey left. So working together again at Aston Martin would not work at this time.”
