Pierre Gasly has just told Alpine precisely why they don’t need Christian Horner

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Christian Horner has now set his sights on securing a return to F1 with Alpine, as the Briton continues to seek a route back to the paddock after being sacked by Red Bull.

Red Bull fired Horner after 20 years as their team principal in the days immediately after the 2025 British Grand Prix. A mixture of the outfit’s worsening results, Horner’s fight for power and the threat of Max Verstappen quitting Red Bull convinced them to call time on his reign.

Laurent Mekies moved over from sister team Racing Bulls to replace Horner as the CEO and team principal of Red Bull in July. The change in leader quickly helped improve the mood in Milton Keynes, and Mekies’ arrival even helped Verstappen to revive his title hopes in 2025.

Horner and Red Bull formalised his departure in September, as he was initially moved aside as his contract was set to run through 2030. Red Bull paid Horner around £52-80m to leave, as he agreed to a reduced severance fee to reduce his gardening leave period to April 2026.

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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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Christian Horner has set his sights on taking over the Alpine F1 team

Horner has been busy in the background while Red Bull rebuild without him, as the 52-year-old is eager to return to F1. It is said that Horner has met with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to discuss creating a new team, but his more likely route back to the paddock would be Alpine.

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

Reports now claim that Horner wants to take over Alpine completely, as he sees the Enstone outfit as a quick route back into the championship. The Renault-owned team are even about to become a Mercedes engine customer in 2026, having closed their factory engine division.

But Pierre Gasly has just told Alpine precisely why they do not need to engage in any talks to sell shares to Horner, or give him a high-ranking role that could satisfy his desire to return to F1. Horner is not interested in simply being a team principal again, should he return to F1.

Pierre Gasly already thinks Alpine have ‘all the ingredients’ to be successful

Gasly believes Alpine already have “all the ingredients” they need to be successful with their current leadership hierarchy in Flavio Briatore and Steve Nielsen. The former Red Bull driver thinks Briatore is setting a “winners’ mentality”, while Nielsen does not brush off their flaws.

READ MORE: Who is Alpine’s F1 executive adviser Flavio Briatore? Everything to know

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“Flavio, I think I connect with him because he has a winner’s mentality,” Gasly told the F1 website. “He doesn’t care about anything other than winning. All he’s focusing on, all the time, is getting more out of us as a team, every single individual in the team. He doesn’t settle for anything less than perfection, and that’s my mentality, as well.

“We’re in a competitive sport and we need to aim for perfection at all levels, that’s the only way we’re going to get to where we want to be. Flavio’s won in F1, he’s won many other things in life besides F1, and I think that’s thanks to his mindset and approach. I can see he’s really putting his heart into the team and the effort to make it happen.

“I also really like Steve. He’s a very different character to Flavio, but I think they complement each other a lot. He’s a great addition to the team in terms of leadership and experience, and being very factual and very objective. ‘If we’re good at something, we’re good, but if we’re weak somewhere, let’s not hide from it’.

“I feel that we’ve got great characters across the team, and we’ve got all the ingredients to be successful. Now we’ve just got to make it happen.”

Briatore returned to Enstone as the executive Alpine F1 adviser to the Renault Group in June 2024. The 75-year-old Italian also took on the duties of acting team principal of Alpine when Oliver Oakes left in May 2025. Oakes had only been their team principal since August 2024.

Nielsen joined Alpine as their managing director in September and oversees the day-to-day running of their factory. His appointment also marked a return to Enstone as, like Briatore, he worked there in the Renault era that yielded Fernando Alonso’s titles in 2005 and 2006.