FIA chief issues statement on Christian Horner F1 return

Photo: © IMAGO

Christian Horner

FIA chief issues statement on Christian Horner F1 return

Christian Horner was sacked by Red Bull last year

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 8 July 2026 18:45

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FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem says former F1 boss Christian Horner WILL return to the sport.

Horner was the team principal of Red Bull between 2005-2025, winning 14 world championship in a glorious era for the Milton Keynes team.

He took over a team that were just starting their journey as an F1 team and, within six seasons, turned them into a championship-winning outfit.

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However, following the 2025 British Grand Prix, Horner was sacked from his role, with Red Bull sat down in fourth in the constructors' championship. It capped off what had been a tumultuous final 12 months.

Horner had a very public falling out with Max Verstappen's father Jos Verstappen, while he and long-time Red Bull colleague Helmut Marko did not see eye to eye all of the time.

But now, Ben Sulayem has defiantly said that Horner 'will get back' to the sport at some point, despite Horner himself revealing on the grid at Silverstone that he was 'enjoying' the downtime with his family, and that a move for 2027 is unlikely to materialise.

In some rather controversial comments, FIA president Ben Sulayem also suggested that people should 'forget' about 'certain behaviours' when an individual is providing success.

Ben Sulayem confirms Horner return plans

Asked if he would like to see Horner return to F1, Ben Sulayem replied in comments reported by the Oxford Mail: "Yes."

He continued: "He will get back. Where is not for me to say - even if I know. It is for him to say."

Horner has recently been linked with a move to Aston Martin, where he would reunite with design legend Adrian Newey, who left Red Bull in 2024 and joined Aston Martin.

Ben Sulayem continued: "I am a believer that when you have a team, you have to forget about what this person is doing, his personality; do you want the result or not?

"You look at his background. Please. Everybody makes mistakes, but did he deliver? What do you want? Do you want to win or not? Do you want to give it a try or not?

"There is behaviours, and bad behaviours, and if you do bad behaviour it will catch on you, and nobody will want you.

"But it is about results; you bring someone, you pay him millions to get results. Of course, he shouldn’t go and kill someone or drink and driving; that is bad behaviour, but I said certain behaviours."

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