Christian Horner Given Shock Route Back To Work After Red Bull Axing

Martin Brundle believes Christian Horner will be thinking about a potential move into MotoGP after his axing as Red Bull team principal and CEO.

Speculation over Horner's future has been rife since his full departure from Red Bull was confirmed last month, with several teams revealing contact had been made ,including Aston Martin and Haas, though there were no steps forward of note.

Horner has also been linked to a shot at getting a 12th team on the grid in the coming years in a bid to emulate the feat he achieved when building the Red Bull operation from the ground up when the energy drinks manufacturer joined in place of Jaguar for the 2005 season.

Horner facing "extra hurdle"

Christian Horner — Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

But speaking on Sky Sports News [UK], former F1 driver turned pundit Brundle suggested that the incumbent teams would try to block that route back to the sport, explaining: “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.

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

It has been reported that Horner is seeking a stakeholding in any potential landing spot, something that Brundle has confirmed.

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“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,” he added.

“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."

But Brundle provided another route back into motorsport for Horner in the form of MotoGP. The premier motorcycle racing series has recently been taken over by Liberty Media, which controls F1 as well, and has seen former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner lead a takeover of the Tech 3 squad.

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

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