Christian Horner has a 'logical next step' after £75million Red Bull sacking

Christian Horner has a 'logical next step' in his bid to return to F1, according to prominent radio presenter Simon Jordan.

talkSPORT host Jordan is himself a former sports executive as chairman of Premier League club Crystal Palace, so well placed to analyse Horner's situation right now.

This week marked one year since the 52-year-old Englishman was sacked from his role as Red Bull team principal, and he returned to the paddock for the first time since as a guest of F1 at the British Grand Prix.

Horner is expected to return to F1 at some stage soon, but clearly is waiting for the right opportunity. Jordan believes he knows what the route will be.

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The ideal route back into F1

Speaking on talkSPORT, he said: All he wants to be, is he wants to be an owner with other people's money, I suspect.

"A bit like Andrew Neill wanted wanted to be the head of GB News and then realised that he wasn't going to be a media baron on other people's money, and that ended poorly for him.

"It will be interesting if someone like Horner can raise enough money where he puts himself in a position where he can be an owner, because it's the logical next step for him, isn't it."

Owning a piece of the pie

Jordan's thoughts would appear to align with what Horner has said about a potential return - he is unlikely to come back as a team principal and would demand a bigger role. Potentially that means a piece of the commercial pie in terms of equity.

It is worth remembering that Horner's great rival Toto Wolff owns a significant piece of the Mercedes team he runs, and this would seem to be a sensible blueprint.

Payouts, non-competes and 'fair play'

Jordan also reacted to the talk of Horner's £75million payout from Red Bull, and the reports which claim he could have got more had he agreed to stay out of the sport for a longer period.

"To be fair to him, he backed himself. What he's saying is, I mean, it's easy. I suppose if you're going to get 75 million, you say, 'Well, I'll take 50 and if you let me out of a non-compete earlier and I can then go back into the sport' because if they had a non-compete for two or three years.

"So, but it's a nice position to be in where you say, 'well, I'll take 50 rather than 75'. You can go back into the sport and allow me to do something elsewhere. Fair play."

What has Horner done since F1?

Horner has been linked with an F1 return at both Alpine (as part of an investment group looking to purchase a 24 percent stake) and struggling Aston Martin. Chinese electrical giant BYD launching a 12th team with Horner now appears unlikely after they admitted this is more 'dream' than reality right now.

Recently Horner took on his first major role since leaving F1, joining London-based private equity house Oakley Capital as an adviser looking to unlock opportunities in sports.

The former Red Bull team principal has also just announced that he will be releasing his F1 memoir 'Drive' in October this year.

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