Martin Brundle reveals sole condition Christian Horner is seeking for F1 return

Former F1 driver Martin Brundle has stated Christian Horner has informed him of the conditions he is seeking to return to the F1 grid.

Earlier this year, Red Bull announced it had parted ways with Horner, ending his 20-year stint as team principal.

Horner will remain viewed as one of the most successful leaders in the sport's history following successful periods with drivers Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

The Briton is known to be seeking a return to F1 after initiating contact with several teams over a potential tie-up following his exit from Red Bull.

Haas confirmed Horner reached out and had “exploratory talks”, while Aston Martin owner Lawrence Stroll also spoke to the 51-year-old.

Another route back to the grid for Horner that has been theorised is establishing a 12th team; however, Brundle is confident that current squads would move to block such a development.

“I think the current teams in F1 will be pushing hard, as will other stakeholders, to say they don’t want a 12th team at the moment while they’re all jockeying around trying to sort out the 2026 regulations," Brundle told Sky Sports News.

“It might be an extra hurdle for Christian. But F1 is his life. It’s where his skills and experiences lie.”

Horner will only return to the grid if he is a shareholder with a team, according to Brundle, akin to Toto Wolff's set-up at Mercedes.

“He made it absolutely clear to me when I spoke to him that he will only come back if he’s got a skin in the game, if he’s got a share of the team and is building something, rather than being a manager as he was with Red Bull,” Brundle said.

“He couldn’t get any shareholding in that. Toto Wolff is a good example of how to do that as a one-third shareholder in Mercedes.

“I’m not surprised Christian is knocking on doors, seeing what is available out there. There are not many available doors to knock on, in that respect." 

Brundle also suggested Horner could look to MotoGP after the motorcycle category was taken over by Liberty Media, the same company that holds the commercial rights for F1.

“I’m sure he’ll be thinking about MotoGP as well,” he said.

“That’s just been taken over by the same people who own F1, and it will grow. But I imagine his focus will remain on F1 to see where he can get back in.

“I’m sure there will be partners, sponsors and other people who might want to join Christian on that journey.”