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Christian Horner is consistently being linked with a move to join Alpine in an ownership capacity after being sacked by Red Bull last season.
Red Bull decided to part ways with Christian Horner following a disappointing start to the 2025 campaign that saw Liam Lawson dropped after two races and Max Verstappen’s title hopes seemingly vanish.
Verstappen’s form dramatically improved after Laurent Mekies was named as Horner’s replacement, but the 52-year-old doesn’t look like he’s going to be away from the paddock for long.
Alpine will hope to end their droughts in F1 now they have a Mercedes engine, but will they?
Alpine have emerged as one of Horner’s most likely landing spots if he does make a Formula 1 comeback.
Complications have arisen over Horner becoming Alpine’s majority owner, but a report from Sky News shared details about contact being made with MSP Sports Capital over a potential takeover.
F1 Oversteer have spoken exclusively to finance and governance expert Adam Williams, and he’s provided more insight into how a partnership between Horner and MSP would work, and how their previous dealings with McLaren come into the equation.
READ MORE: Who is Christian Horner? All you need to know from Red Bull to net worth
Christian Horner and MSP Sports Capital targeting Alpine after McLaren and Tottenham links
Williams provided F1 Oversteer with an extensive analysis of the situation and said: “A few years ago, I spoke to a consultancy who were doing due diligence on behalf of MSP Sports Capital when they were looking to acquire Premier League club Tottenham outright.
“The impression I got was that the brief that they had been given by MSP was very, very wide in nature. They wanted to talk about everything from grand trends in geopolitics down to the minutiae of Premier League transfer regulations.
“They were looking at a time horizon – which is a fancy private equity term for how long a firm will hold onto an asset before selling it – of 10, 15, 20 years or longer. That is significantly longer than the usual turnaround time in private equity, which most people say is somewhere around seven years. I think that is emblematic of the fact that private equity firms like MSP Sports are taking a different approach when it comes to sports.
“Otro Capital, another private equity firm, have only been involved with Alpine since 2023 and are looking at a massive markup on the £670m valuation on which they bought into the franchise, but I suspect MSP would be looking to be in it for a much longer haul, if indeed they back Horner’s deal.
Prove me wrong: Christian Horner is the best person Alpine can hire in 2026
“MSP were with McLaren since 2020 and, when they left, they were very effusive about the long-term potential of the sport. They made a lot of money from that deal to sell their stake in McLaren, which will have satisfied their limited partners. They know the business very well now and, with a partner like Horner, will feel they can drive real long-term value from their next investment.
“You might ask, why not just stick with McLaren? Well, probably because the sale generated a return for their limited partners and because of what the private equity sphere calls the multiplier effect. If they do end up backing Horner for Alpine, the deal will probably be largely structured through debt, which – if the value of the asset increases – is cheaper than investing through equity, which increases your return and the money that you can give to your partners. That’s why private equity firms are constantly refreshing their portfolios. But when the portfolio matures, they hold onto assets for longer, which I suspect is what they would be targeting at Alpine.”
READ MORE: All you need to know about Alpine F1 Team from team principal to lineage
Christian Horner speaks out about Red Bull exit as he seeks Formula 1 return
Horner has been relatively quiet since leaving Red Bull, but has conducted several interviews in recent weeks ahead of the 2026 season starting.
Ahead of the new campaign beginning, Horner explained what he missed about being Red Bull boss, but it might not be too long until he gets to experience that pressure on the pit wall again.
Alpine were the cause of the first red flag in pre-season testing when Franco Colapinto stopped on track, but aside from that, they appear to have made good progress compared to last year.
Under the leadership of Steve Nielsen, Alpine have been innovating in their aerodynamic designs and have Mercedes power units to rely on.
It’s a promising start to 2026 thus far, although the Bahrain circuit hid many of the bugbears with their car last year.
If MSP and Horner can make a deal with Alpine, it would signal the start of a brand new era for the manufacturer.
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