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New destination for Christian Horner F1 return tipped by race winner
Could another option emerge for Christian Horner’s hopes of sealing an F1 comeback?
Audi has been urged to consider signing Christian Horner as its new Formula 1 team principal following the shock departure of Jonathan Wheatley.
The F1 world was left stunned when Wheatley exited Audi with immediate effect following the Chinese Grand Prix after less than a year in the role. The 58-year-old Briton has been heavily linked with becoming Aston Martin’s next team principal.
Mattia Binotto has taken over the responsibilities of team principal in the interim in addition to his role as head of the Audi F1 project.
Horner, who was sacked as Red Bull team principal and CEO last July after 20 years at the helm, is known to be seeking a return to F1 and has expressed an interest in buying the 24 per cent stake in Alpine owned by private investment firm Otro Capital.
But with Mercedes now also in the running to buy the available stake in Alpine, Horner’s hopes of sealing a comeback with the Enstone-based squad appear to have suffered a blow.
Former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya has tipped Horner as being the solution to Audi’s conundrum.
“I mean, Mattia has an uphill battle, because I don’t think he wanted to be fully involved,” Montoya told talkSPORT. “Yeah, I think he wanted to be in the background
“So I would assume they’re probably looking for somebody to come in and fill that gap.”
Asked if Horner could be an option for Audi, Montoya replied: “They need somebody like Christian to do that.
“I think people underestimate what Christian has done, how long he did it for, and what he achieved. You might like him, you might hate him, but he could deliver.”
However, Binotto seemingly confirmed that Audi is not looking for a direct team principal replacement.
“For the future, I think we are not looking for a new team principal,” Binotto said at the Japanese Grand Prix.
“I will keep the role, but I will need someone to support me at the race weekends because I will not be always at the race weekend myself. I need to focus most at the factory where there is the most to transform – I would say, not only to develop, to transform.
“So certainly a support at the race weekend is required.”
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Could another option emerge for Christian Horner’s hopes of sealing an F1 comeback?
Audi has been urged to consider signing Christian Horner as its new Formula 1 team principal following the shock departure of Jonathan Wheatley.
The F1 world was left stunned when Wheatley exited Audi with immediate effect following the Chinese Grand Prix after less than a year in the role. The 58-year-old Briton has been heavily linked with becoming Aston Martin’s next team principal.
Mattia Binotto has taken over the responsibilities of team principal in the interim in addition to his role as head of the Audi F1 project.
Horner, who was sacked as Red Bull team principal and CEO last July after 20 years at the helm, is known to be seeking a return to F1 and has expressed an interest in buying the 24 per cent stake in Alpine owned by private investment firm Otro Capital.
But with Mercedes now also in the running to buy the available stake in Alpine, Horner’s hopes of sealing a comeback with the Enstone-based squad appear to have suffered a blow.
Former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya has tipped Horner as being the solution to Audi’s conundrum.
“I mean, Mattia has an uphill battle, because I don’t think he wanted to be fully involved,” Montoya told talkSPORT. “Yeah, I think he wanted to be in the background
“So I would assume they’re probably looking for somebody to come in and fill that gap.”
Asked if Horner could be an option for Audi, Montoya replied: “They need somebody like Christian to do that.
“I think people underestimate what Christian has done, how long he did it for, and what he achieved. You might like him, you might hate him, but he could deliver.”
However, Binotto seemingly confirmed that Audi is not looking for a direct team principal replacement.
“For the future, I think we are not looking for a new team principal,” Binotto said at the Japanese Grand Prix.
“I will keep the role, but I will need someone to support me at the race weekends because I will not be always at the race weekend myself. I need to focus most at the factory where there is the most to transform – I would say, not only to develop, to transform.
“So certainly a support at the race weekend is required.”
Audi has been urged to consider signing Christian Horner as its new Formula 1 team principal following the shock departure of Jonathan Wheatley.
The F1 world was left stunned when Wheatley exited Audi with immediate effect following the Chinese Grand Prix after less than a year in the role. The 58-year-old Briton has been heavily linked with becoming Aston Martin’s next team principal.
Mattia Binotto has taken over the responsibilities of team principal in the interim in addition to his role as head of the Audi F1 project.
Horner, who was sacked as Red Bull team principal and CEO last July after 20 years at the helm, is known to be seeking a return to F1 and has expressed an interest in buying the 24 per cent stake in Alpine owned by private investment firm Otro Capital.
But with Mercedes now also in the running to buy the available stake in Alpine, Horner’s hopes of sealing a comeback with the Enstone-based squad appear to have suffered a blow.
Former F1 race winner Juan Pablo Montoya has tipped Horner as being the solution to Audi’s conundrum.
“I mean, Mattia has an uphill battle, because I don’t think he wanted to be fully involved,” Montoya told talkSPORT. “Yeah, I think he wanted to be in the background
“So I would assume they’re probably looking for somebody to come in and fill that gap.”
Asked if Horner could be an option for Audi, Montoya replied: “They need somebody like Christian to do that.
“I think people underestimate what Christian has done, how long he did it for, and what he achieved. You might like him, you might hate him, but he could deliver.”
However, Binotto seemingly confirmed that Audi is not looking for a direct team principal replacement.
“For the future, I think we are not looking for a new team principal,” Binotto said at the Japanese Grand Prix.
“I will keep the role, but I will need someone to support me at the race weekends because I will not be always at the race weekend myself. I need to focus most at the factory where there is the most to transform – I would say, not only to develop, to transform.
“So certainly a support at the race weekend is required.”
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