F1 2026: Christian Horner in Alpine ‘negotiations’ over shock return

Christian Horner

Christian Horner 'negotiating' F1 return with Alpine

Sheona Mountford F1 Journalist

Motorsport journalist working in F1 since 2024.

Saturday 24 January 2026 13:54

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Christian Horner is 'negotiating' an F1 return with Alpine according to team executive Flavio Briatore.

The former Red Bull chief has been linked to the purchase of a 24 per cent share in Alpine, which is currently held by Otro Capital.

In 2023, Alpine sold its 24 per cent stake to Otro Capital, bringing with it celebrity faces such as Ryan Reynolds and Travis Kelce, which has only grown in valuation.

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Now, it has been reported that Otro are looking to sell that share, coinciding with Horner's exit from Red Bull and his reported desire for some kind of F1 team ownership, akin to Toto Wolff at Mercedes.

During Alpine's 2026 livery launch, the team's de facto team principal Briatore finally put end to speculation and confirmed the talks were in progress.

Briatore: 'Horner's negotiating'

Briatore said: "In this moment, this is a lot of confusion. A few groups - I don't know how many, six, seven; every day is a new group - every day people call me about Otro. I don't care.

"So [suppose] Otro want to sell their participation in Alpine. The moment somebody buys 24% of Otro, we still have 75% [the rest] and we discuss it. But for the moment, this is the situation.

"I've known Christian for many years, I talk with Christian anyway, but this has nothing to do with me.

“First you need to buy [the] Otro [share], and after Renault need to accept the buyer, and after we see what's happening.

"But there's no link with me, because he's negotiating with Otro, he's not negotiating with us."

F1 Christian Horner Alpine Flavio Briatore