F1 News: Christian Horner return takes fresh twist as struggling giant 'makes new approach'

Christian Horner

Christian Horner F1 return takes new twist as struggling giant 'sends SOS'

Horner to Aston Martin is a story again

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Wednesday 1 July 2026 09:00 Updated: 22:04

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Struggling F1 giant Aston Martin have reportedly made a fresh approach to former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

The 52-year-old Horner has been on the sidelines since his sacking after 20 glorious years at Red Bull last summer. It is widely expected he will return to the paddock in the near future.

In terms of landing spots, links with Ferrari failed to bring a positive conclusion as the Scuderia instead signed current team principal Fred Vasseur to a contract extension.

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Horner has also been strongly linked with acquiring a 24 percent stake in Alpine as part of a group of investors, but again so far it has not happened. Meanwhile Englishman has held talks with Chinese electric vehicle giant BYD as it ponders a bid to become F1's 12th team.

Which leads us on to Aston Martin, a team which had been expected to contend in 2026, but instead has so far been the story of the season for all the wrong reasons.

Billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll is reported to have held talks with Horner back in March as the team reeled from a disastrous start to the season. And now it appears there is fresh interest.

'New approach' from Aston Martin - respected F1 insider

According to respected Daily Mail F1 insider Jonathan McEvoy, there is now 'renewed contact' as the sport approaches its summer break.

McEvoy wrote: "This latest SOS makes sense given that Aston are conspicuously struggling, having claimed just one point from eight races despite huge investment from Stroll.

"Horner is in no immediate rush to return to the paddock after accepting an £80million payoff from his ex-employers, though he has admitted he has ‘unfinished business’ to attend to."

Aston Martin, approached for comment by GPFans, responded by stating: “We are regularly approached by senior executives of other teams who wish to join Aston Martin Aramco, but in keeping with our policy, we do not comment on rumour and speculation.”

Horner wants a bigger role in F1 team

Horner has been keen to stress that his next role ideally should be more than just a team principal, he wants a bigger seat at the table and likely a stake in the operation.

Aston Martin of course already has a team principal, Horner's former Red Bull colleague Adrian Newey, but the team reportedly made an offer to former Audi team principal Jonathan Wheatley earlier this year.

The size of the task at Aston Martin was laid bare only yesterday by Newey in a state of the nation address on the team's official website. He spoke in detail about some of the challenges he has faced since his much-hyped move from Red Bull.

Newey spoke in depth about Aston Martin's issues.

Newey reveals systemic issues at Aston Martin

The problems with the new Honda power unit have already been well documented, but Newey also revealed some of the systemic legacy issues facing the Silverstone team.

He admitted: "We were relying on tools and processes that had been patched and bodged for years - you could trace some of them right back to the very early days of the Jordan team that was based here in Silverstone, long before Aston Martin returned to the grid.

"At some point, a system that's just patch‑on‑patch stops being fit for purpose. That's where we had got to.

"The result was a very frustrating car build. Parts weren't being ordered at the right time - not because people weren't doing their jobs, but because the underlying system was failing them."

Newey has confirmed Aston Martin will bring their first major upgrades of 2026 to the Hungarian Grand Prix later this month after the decision to endure a painful wait as other teams get faster every race.

F1 Christian Horner Aston Martin