Martin Brundle identifies key Christian Horner demand that ‘he won’t be able to do’ at Ferrari

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Following Christian Horner’s exit from Red Bull Racing on Wednesday, the question arises of where the 51-year-old will find himself next if he wants to stay within the F1 paddock.

Horner was ousted by Red Bull following the success of four consecutive championship-winning seasons, with reports noting the atmosphere in Milton Keynes growing ‘increasingly tense’ due to the lack of results this season.

There are a number of teams that serve as an attractive destination for the motorsport executive, with joining Flavio Briatore at Alpine serving as one of them.

Horner shot down rumours of joining Ferrari in June before his departure from Red Bull, telling Sky Sports F1, “I’m not going anywhere.”

Christian Horner will want some ‘ownership’ in future F1 venture

Martin Brundle believes a key factor in play for where Horner will choose to set up shop is down to where he is able to put his own money on the line and purchase a stake in an F1 team, playing down the Ferrari rumours.

Speaking on Sky Sports F1’s podcast, Brundle theorised, “I think that Christian will be desperate to have a stake in a team going forward.

“Some ownership rather than being a hired hand. Obviously, he won’t be able to do that at Ferrari, as entertaining as that job might be.”

Scuderia Ferrari is completely owned by their parent company, Ferrari S.p.A. As the team isn’t structured as a separate and publicly traded entity, he isn’t able to acquire a stake in the future revenue of the team.

Alpine is ‘a much better way to go’ than Ferrari, thinks Ted Kravitz

Renault Group have the majority ownership over Alpine, but sold a 24% stake to Otro Capital in 2023 – an investment group which includes a swath of celebrities and global sports stars such as Ryan Reynolds, Patrick Mahomes and Trent Alexander-Arnold.

Whilst the key factor for Horner is ownership, something which can’t be overlooked is the location where he will be based at his next team. A British-based team, such as Alpine, proves to be ‘a much better way to go’ for the former team principal, according to Ted Kravitz.

“Much better if he thought that Alpine was an option, another British-based team with Flavio there,” Kravitz explained to Brundle, “With a team that is very like Red Bull. In fact, a lot of people in Enstone are ex-Red Bull and vice versa.”

Referring to the previous links with Ferrari, Kravitz noted, “Knowing what was going to happen today, he might have thought, ‘Oh, maybe I should have taken that.’

“But I think he had already made his mind up not to do Ferrari, and if Alpine is an option, then that’s a much better way to go.”