F1 boss exasperated by Christian Horner talk with return expected

Christian Horner

F1 boss exasperated by Christian Horner talk with return expected

Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull last year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Tuesday 9 June 2026 12:56

An F1 boss recently got very frustrated following a barrage of questions about a potential return to the sport for Christian Horner.

Horner had been in his team principal role with Red Bull for 20 years, winning 14 championships in that time, before he was axed from the team in July last year.

Recently, the Brit has been time and again linked with Alpine, with him understood to be wanting more of a team ownership role, and with Otro Capital understood to be wanting to sell their 24 per cent stake in the Alpine team.

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Otro had been in talks with Mercedes and Toto Wolff about a potential sale, but those talks have now broken down, with the valuation from Otro too high for Mercedes to consider.

That could mean that there is an opportunity for a Horner-led consortium, and Alpine boss Flavio Briatore was asked about this in the official FIA team principals' press conference at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Reports have recently stated that the Renault Group have blocked a potential Horner return, and that they have the right to veto any Otro sale until late this year.

Briatore gets annoyed by Horner return questions

During the press conference, Briatore was asked three separate questions about Horner, despite repeatedly confirming that it was more a Renault Group issue, rather than anything to do with him or Alpine.

"Really, you have another question?," an exasperated Briatore said. "In one way, Otro is nothing to do with the team. Otro, its founders bought 24% of the team, Alpine, two years ago, and in the moment want to sell, like everybody knows.

"It was negotiated with Toto Wolff behind the Williams team, the Mercedes team. Looks like three days ago the agreement fell, all the negotiation. That’s basically what happened.

"It has nothing to do with the team. We don’t have any pressure from Renault Group regarding Otro. This is really the problem. Renault Group is not the problem of the Alpine team."

Later, he said: "Like I tell you before, Otro is a Renault Group problem. It’s not really the team’s problem. And we have a lot of negotiation around, different team, different people, including, at the time, it was including Christian.

"For me, whatever solution is found by Renault, I’m very happy to accept whatever solution is. But whoever buys the share from Otro needs the blessing from Renault.

"I see it [as] very difficult for somebody to spend 600 million to buy a minority in one company if it’s not agreed with the majority. I don’t understand the political doctrine, honestly, because in this moment it’s not going to work."

Briatore would welcome Honer return

Despite reacting frustratingly to the questions from the various journalists, Briatore did not necessarily respond badly to the idea of Horner becoming a minority shareholder in the team.

After yet another question on the matter from a separate journalist, Briatore even said he would welcome Horner joining the outfit, while also confirming that it is out of his hands.

"I’d be happy to work with anybody, honestly," he continued in the press conference. "I don’t think this is the point. I think the point in this moment is, I don’t know if Christian is involved in some group that want to buy or not.

"For me, welcome, I have zero problem, especially with Christian. I have a super relationship with Christian. I know him 20 years, and we worked together on the engine. I supplied the engine to him at the time with Renault, we called Nissan, and we were working for five years together. Super, zero problem. But this is only the question, guys, with Renault Group.

"You need to talk with Renault, not with me, honestly."

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Written by

Sam Cook - Digital Journalist

Sam Cook is a talented young sports journalist and social media professional who now specialises in Formula 1, having previously worked as a football journalist and a local news reporter for a variety of different brands.

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F1 Christian Horner Alpine Flavio Briatore Renault