Christian Horner sees one clear Aston Martin ‘issue’ that he would not fix under Lawrence Stroll

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Christian Horner has been on the hunt for his return to Formula 1 since he was sacked by Red Bull, and Aston Martin and Alpine continue to emerge as possible destinations.

The 52-year-old spent 20 years as the team principal of Red Bull, having taken over the helm in Milton Keynes after the energy drink giant bought the ailing Jaguar F1 crew from Ford. His reign even saw Red Bull win eight F1 drivers’ championship titles plus six constructors’ titles.

But Horner never had the one thing he desired the most while at Red Bull, which is shares in an F1 team. That will likely change if, or more likely when, the Briton returns to the paddock. It is now reported that Horner is in advanced talks to buy Otro Capital’s 24% stake in Alpine.

F1 Oversteer has exclusively reported that investment group Otro Capital would be thrilled if Horner invests in Alpine, as his possible buy-in would value the team at £2.5bn. Otro Capital paid Renault £173m in 2023 to buy its 24% stake in Alpine that would now be worth £600m.

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Christian Horner will not invest in Aston Martin as he cannot change their driver line-up under Lawrence Stroll

Aston Martin have also frequently been seen as a potential landing spot since Red Bull fired Horner last July, amid their worsening results and his internal fight for more power. But any move to Silverstone is unlikely under the current structure that Lawrence Stroll has created.

READ MORE: Who is Christian Horner? All you need to know from Red Bull to net worth

That is according to GPBlog, which reports that Horner has no interest in investing in Aston Martin under their current management. Team principal Adrian Newey and chief strategy officer Andy Cowell report into Stroll, who boasts the final say on matters at Aston Martin.

Horner does not want to get involved in Aston Martin under Stroll, as one ‘issue’ would be the Leamington Spa native’s inability to then change their driver line-up as he sees fit. The biggest issue for Horner particularly being that Aston Martin field Stroll’s son, Lance Stroll.

Lance Stroll is likely to stay at Aston Martin as long as his dad owns the F1 team

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Horner could make his F1 comeback with Alpine, who will have Mercedes engines from 2026 to 2030

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Lance Stroll and teammate Fernando Alonso are both currently out of contract with Aston Martin at the end of the 2026 F1 season. But it is widely believed that Stroll will retain the seat as long as he wants while his father owns Aston Martin and is the executive chairman.

Lawrence invested heavily in helping his son reach F1 and stay in the series for what will be a 10th year in 2026. Lance debuted with Williams in 2017, before moving to Racing Point in 2019 after his father bought Force India ahead of rebranding them as Aston Martin in 2021.

Lance will likely never be one of the best drivers and he has comfortably been outclassed by Alonso since the two-time F1 champion joined Aston Martin in 2023. He can produce some brilliant results, especially in the wet, but his highlight results are often infrequent, at best.