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Christian Horner 'negotiating' over F1 return with Alpine
Christian Horner is "negotiating" over a minority purchase of
Alpine that would confirm his return to Formula 1. Horner has been
out of F1 since his shock sacking from Red Bull in early July last
year, ending a 20-year association with the team, of which he was
its team principal and CEO. Horner has since been linked with
various teams about a possible return, with Alpine the most
prominent, potentially joining forces with former F1 supremo Bernie
Ecclestone. Alpine is primarily owned by Renault, with a 24% stake
in the hands of several private investors, spearheaded by private
investment firm, Otro Capital, and supported by the likes of actors
Ryan Reynolds and Michael B. Jordan, as well as Kansas City Chiefs
star duo Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce. If Horner is to make an
F1 comeback, it is known he wants to buy into a team, rather than
solely take up any kind of management or leadership role, with the
possibility of purchasing the Alpine stake potentially affording
him the opportunity he craves. Alpine team boss Flavio Briatore,
who is good friends with Horner, has confirmed talks are taking
place between Horner and Otro. Speaking to the media at the team's
launch of its A526 in Barcelona, Briatore said: "In this moment,
there is a lot of confusion. "[There are] A few groups
[interested]. I don't know how many - six, seven. Every day, there
is a new group. Every day, people call me about Otro. I don't
care. "So [suppose] Otro wants 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." Confirming his friendship with Horner, he added: "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 Otro [its
shareholding]. After Renault needs to accept the buyer, and after
that, we see what will happen. "But there's no link with me,
because he's negotiating with Otro, he's not negotiating with us."
As to whether Horner would be a good asset to Alpine, Briatore
replied: "I think everybody's a good asset to the team, depending
on what position you put the people. No problem."
