James Allen thinks Christian Horner will be banging down the door to join one Formula 1 team

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After Christian Horner and Red Bull Racing parted ways this season, the immediate question asked was with which team the former team principal would return to Formula 1?

Christian Horner discovered his fate after the British Grand Prix, with Red Bull deciding to promote Laurent Mekies into his position from Racing Bulls.

After the news broke, talk around the 51-year-old went quiet until Horner agreed to a severance package with Red Bull.

That allowed a timeline to be created, which means Horner could be back in the paddock just a few races into the 2026 F1 season.

A lot needs to happen between now and then before Horner is potentially sitting on a pit wall watching 11 teams’ efforts at tackling the upcoming regulation changes.

Several teams can be immediately ruled out as options for the former Red Bull boss, although speculation is growing linking Horner to a move to Ferrari.

It’s hard to see that being a realistic option with Horner seeking a more senior role than team principal, and building up investment behind the scenes to secure a part ownership stake in any manufacturer he begins working with.

Commentator and journalist James Allen has spoken about the options available to Horner and believes that Alpine’s door is the one that he’ll be ‘banging on the hardest’ to make his F1 comeback.

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage

Christian Horner will be ‘banging’ on Alpine’s door the hardest to return to Formula 1

Allen was speaking on The Red Flags Podcast about Horner’s future and said: “Well, there aren’t that many calls to make because there aren’t that many places he could go.

“And I don’t think Ferrari is one of them. I’m not ruling it out, but I think one of the things that’s very important to Christian for his return is that he has what they call skin in the game. In other words, he got shares in a team like Toto has.

“Christian wants a piece of that action. So I think Ferrari is less likely because they wouldn’t give him shares in the team for obvious reasons.

“He’s got backers who would, who would back him. And the other possibility would be if he can persuade all of the other teams and the FIA and F1 to let him have the 12th team franchise, because there’s still a 12th team franchise available, Cadillac coming in on the 11th franchise.

“I think that’s the least likely scenario. I don’t get any real indication that Alpine are in a hurry to sell. I mean, they’ve got a very valuable asset there. At the same time, they do need to make it work. So I think that’s the door he’s probably banging on the hardest.

“From a starting point, you’d be more likely to be able to get hold of Alpine and build it into a winning team more quickly than he could do with Haas.”

READ MORE: Ted Kravitz believes one F1 driver could have won a title at Ferrari if Christian Horner was there

Alpine have 2026 driver decision to make before considering Christian Horner links

Flavio Briatore and new managing director Steve Nielsen have to decide who will partner Pierre Gasly in 2026.

Horner would know Gasly well from his time in the Red Bull family, even if his stint as Max Verstappen’s teammate lasted less than a season.

Franco Colapinto is the favourite to be retained by Alpine for next year, with Jack Doohan likely out of the equation.

Reserve driver Paul Aron is quietly impressing at Alpine, but it’s hard to see him replace Colapinto with so little F1 experience under his belt.

Colapinto was briefly linked to Red Bull last year after his bright debut for Williams, but a string of expensive crashes meant he was no longer on Horner’s radar.

It would be interesting to see how he rated the Argentinian if he started working with him more closely at Alpine next year.