Why Aston Martin’s F1 boss is swerving Horner rumours

Barely a week passes without some new rumour connecting former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner to a new job somewhere within the Formula 1 firmament. And it is well known that Horner does not consider himself “done” with F1.

The questions remain: where would he go? And what role would he fill?

Aston Martin is a name which crops up regularly in paddock gossip, for several reasons. Some naturally connect Horner with the company because of its previous association with Red Bull as a sponsor (taking power unit branding) and collaborator on the Valkyrie project.

All that predates the present ownership structure. But current owner Lawrence Stroll has deep pockets and is hugely ambitious – and impatient, with a recent habit of buying in as much talent as possible from outside in the hope of getting on the fast track to success.

Recent movements on the engineering side – technical director Dan Fallows removed not long after getting his feet under the desk, Enrico Cardile recruited as chief technical officer, then Adrian Newey brought in above him while Cardile was still serving gardening leave – are more suggestive of a compulsively acquisitive shopping spree than a grand plan.

So it’s easy to see why a certain plausibility surrounds the idea of Horner making his comeback via Aston Martin. In Singapore, CEO and team principal Andy Cowell’s pre-weekend press conference took on an at-times surreal dimension when he was repeatedly asked about the possibility.

“I think Christian has taken some time out at the moment,” was Cowell’s initial and suitably noncommittal response. “He’s probably enjoying time with friends and family. He loves the sport, though. I wish him well with whatever he ends up doing in the future.”

This was clearly insufficient, so naturally his interlocutors returned to the topic for an encore.

“We have got a strong team,” replied Cowell. And to emphasise the point, he repeated it and built on the foundations.

“We’ve got a strong team with Adrian [Newey] at the helm of the technical organisation. And we’re growing and building.”

While the conversation was not destined to drift into the same aggressive territory as Jeremy Paxman’s famous 1997 grilling of Michael Howard on Newsnight, where ‘Paxo’ asked the same question 12 times without receiving a straight answer, it was safe to say Cowell’s response thus far fell short of being adequate.

So it was time for round three: was he going to stick with the non-denial denial, or twist?

“I think Christian’s record speaks for itself,” said Cowell. “He’s a great competitor. I guess it’s down to Christian to work out what he wants to do. He might want to walk away from the sport.

“He might want to do something else in the sport. But that’s down to Christian, isn’t it?

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

“I think we’ve got a strong set-up and we’re marching forward with that. We’re a relatively young team.

“We’ve got great facilities. We’re developing the tools. We’ve taken on strong people like Adrian and Enrico. Jack [Gioacchino] Vino on the aero side.

“But there are also people internally. There’s a guy called Michael Hart that works hour by hour with Adrian on aero development. Giles Wood and so on. And with Lawrence’s vision and with the sponsorship revenues that are coming in driven by Jeff [Jefferson Slack], I think we’ve got a pretty strong team.”

Were Cowell appearing on the long-running BBC Radio 4 panel show Just A Minute, this response would no doubt have been buzzed for deviation, and host Sue Perkins would have awarded the point. So once more, with feeling: that sounds like a strong team indeed, but might Horner being part of it make it stronger?

“I think I’ll refer back to what I said,” replied Cowell. “We’ve got a plan and we’re marching forward. And I guess Christian needs to work out where he wants to play a part in the future. And who knows what will happen.”

Andy Cowell, Team Principal and Group CEO at Aston Martin F1 Team with Adrian Newey, Managing Technical Partner of Aston Martin F1

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images via Getty Images

So it’s neither a yes nor a no. Obviously it is difficult to definitively rule out Horner appearing in Aston Martin’s signature green garb at some point, given that Lawrence Stroll has form in losing patience with consistent failure, and in motoring through senior leaders the way James Bond villains keep their pools full of piranhas well fed with ex-henchmen.

By the same token, Horner is not your average employee. He has a country estate, an ex-pop star wife, a growing family, some horses, all of which are amply provided for. He doesn’t ‘need’ a job to pay the bills.

He wants a degree of control concomitant with his highly motivated work ethic, along with equity in the business. These may or may not be roadblocks for Stroll, but they certainly were with Red Bull.

Also, Adrian Newey is already in situ at Aston Martin in a senior role with significant control and equity – and let us not forget that his deteriorating relationship with Horner was one of the main reasons for Newey quitting Red Bull last year. It is unlikely that Newey would welcome sharing a factory with Horner again – but would he have a say in the matter?

Unless Horner secures a return in 2026 via another avenue, much hangs on Aston Martin’s performance trajectory next season. If the trend line doesn’t angle upwards by a significant degree, Stroll is likely to chafe – and when Lawrence Stroll chafes, the HR department girds itself for clocking in some overtime.

So, as Cowell didn’t quite get around to putting it, never say never.