Christian Horner backed for F1 return by old rival: 'I'd be shocked'

Zak Brown does not believe F1 has seen the last of Christian Horner, and insists it would be "great" to have his old sparring partner back.

The pair became adversaries in recent years, as McLaren increasingly threatened Red Bull's dominance, before ultimately toppling the Milton Keynes-based squad's empire in 2024.

By the mid-point of the following season, Horner was gone. Replaced by Laurent Mekies at the helm of the six-time constructors' champions after last year's British Grand Prix, the been almost constantly linked to a return to the paddock with either Aston Martin or Alpine.

The latter option has consistently been, and continues to be, touted as the most viable avenue back to F1, but Horner faces competition for 24 per cent of the Renault-owned team, with Mercedes also one of the other parties in the picture.

Brown has been clear on his stance about multi-team ownership, so even though it is a minority share of Team Enstone, he would not welcome Mercedes — which supplies his team with power units — acquiring that stake.

However, when asked by RacingNews365 for his views on the potential for Horner to purchase that portion of Alpine, with a view to returning to the paddock, he was more open to the prospect.

"Christian was a great personality for the sport," the McLaren Racing CEO replied. "Sport always has great personalities that come and go. I think it'd be great to have Christian back in the sport. He's a great operator. His track record speaks for itself.

"I'd rather have 10 weak team principals, but that's not going to happen anytime soon, and there's huge talent that's coming up all the time.

"There's been a lot of team principal moves here in the last two to three years, but I think it'd be great to have him back in the sport.

"And I'm sure, given his passion for the sport and his age, I'd be shocked if he wasn't back in the sport, whether it was with Alpine or someone else."