Aston Martin refuse to rule out Christian Horner approach

Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell has refused to rule out approaching Christian Horner over a possible role within the Silverstone-based outfit. 

While Horner was axed as Red Bull team principal on July 9th, he officially left the Milton Keynes-based outfit last month on September 22nd. 

The Briton has entered a period of gardening leave, although reports have suggested he could return to the F1 paddock early next season. 

He has been linked to Ferrari, Alpine, Haas, Cadillac and Aston Martin, with the latter having addressed the reports ahead of this weekend's Singapore Grand Prix.

Discussing if any internal talks had taken place over offering Horner a role, Cowell told select media including RacingNews365: "Christian's taking some time out isn't he at the moment. 

"He's probably enjoying time with friends and family. He loves this sport, though. And I wish him well with whatever he ends up doing in the future."

Horner's decision to make

If Horner did make a move to Aston Martin, he would be reunited with former Red Bull chief technology officer Adrian Newey. 

Through Horner's leadership and Newey's car designs, Red Bull went on multiple periods of dominance in F1, something Aston Martin is searching for in the coming years. 

The Austrian outfit won four consecutive drivers' and teams' titles from 2010-2013, while it has also won a further four drivers' titles and three constructors' titles since 2021.

Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll has made several high-profile signings in recent seasons, although Cowell has insisted what Horner does next is entirely down to the 51-year-old.

Asked by RacingNews365 if he wanted to officially rule Horner out, Cowell responded: "I think, Christian's record speaks for itself. 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? 

"I think we've got a strong setup, 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 [Newey], Enrico [Cardile], 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, Charles Wood and so on. And with Lawrence's vision, and with the sponsorship revenues that are coming in, driven by Jeff [Slack], I think we've got a pretty strong team."