Former Formula 1 boss Bernie Ecclestone believes Christian Horner is in “a difficult position” as he negotiates his way back into the paddock.
Horner orchestrated a period of immense success for Red Bull, after he assumed the reigns of the Milton Keynes-based squad since its inception in 2005.
The Briton led the team to six Constructors’ and eight Drivers’ titles, as Team Principal and CEO, alongside the likes of Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
That said, an internal ‘inappropriate behaviour’ allegation, in early 2024, qucikly cascaded into his ousting from the team in July, last year, after a disastrous start to the 2025 campaign for Red Bull.
Since then, Horner has been trying to carve a way back into the paddock, but his close ally and former F1 ringmaster Ecclestone believes that the Briton has found himself between a rock and a hard place with his comeback pursuits.
“Christian is in a difficult position anyway,” he said as per PlanetF1 during the Austrian GP weekend.
“Wherever he goes, if he doesn’t succeed successfully, people will say, ‘Ah Christian, you were very good when you were with Red Bull and budgets and things like that, and then now you’re not winning because of that.’ So it’s difficult for him.”
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There has been a lot of speculation with respect to Horner’s next destination within the paddock.
Reports suggested Horner was making a ploy to acquire a minority stake in Alpine, who had supplied engines to Red Bull in its erstwhile Renault avatar between 2007 and 2018.
Those rumors were quickly quelled when it became apparent that Mercedes and Toto Wolff had entered the conversation about acquiring the stake.
Recently, Horner has been linked with a sensational BYD entry, with the Chinese EV giants’ CEO Stella Li called Horner a “good friend” of the organisation, hinting at a possible bid to enter the sport.
Ecclestone, however, revealed that he had pitched the idea of taking the lead at Ferrari to the Briton, after his Red Bull sacking.
“I speak to him quite regularly and, early on, I was trying to convince him to try and be at Ferrari,” Ecclestone said.
But when pressed to reveal if he knew where Horner could end up, Ecclestone simply replied, “I’ve no idea.”
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