Aston Martin boss Andy Cowell has claimed that Christian Horner has been “ringing up pretty much every team owner” amid a mooted return to Formula 1.
Horner, who settled his formal exit from Red Bull last month with a huge financial settlement, is thought to be keen on making a swift return to the sport.
Longstanding rumours had placed Horner towards a mooted move to Alpine, as well as potential solo entry bid to be F1’s 12th team.
Recent speculation has seen Horner linked with Haas, corroborated by its Team Principal Ayao Komatsu, who confirmed he had held exploratory talks with the American squad.
The 51-year-old appears hugely interested in returning to the sport swiftly, and seems that very few teams are not off the table in his mind.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix, Cowell was asked whether Horner had also approached Aston Martin as well as Haas.
“I had a chat with Lawrence [Stroll] this morning to find out what he knows,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“It looks as though Christian is ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment. You can pass the question along.
” I can clearly say there are no plans for involvement of Christian either in an operational or investment role in the future.”
Cowell had, earlier in the weekend, refused to be drawn on the possibility of Horner working with the Silverstone-based squad, saying Horner was “taking some time out”.
‘This is F1 after all’ – Alpine chief refuses to rule out potential Horner F1 collaboration
Those who Cowell wished the question would be passed onto were Steve Nielsen and James Vowles.
Nielsen, who has just taken up a new role as Alpine’s Managing Director, was asked the question, a logical one, given Executive Director Flavio Briatore’s closeness to Horner, and refused to rule out a potential role for him.
“As far as I know, no,” Nielsen said. “Flavio and Christian are old friends. That’s no secret. What they’ve talked about, I don’t know.
“Everything I see and everything I know, there’s no truth in Christian coming to Alpine. That doesn’t mean it won’t happen. This is Formula 1 after all.”
Williams boss Vowles firmly ruled out any contact from Horner, but said there was “no point in closing the door” to any potential conversation.
“I think you should always welcome a conversation,” he said. “There’s no point in closing the door. But I think we are, not I think, we’re very happy with the structure we have and it’s working.
“So I don’t see any reason to make any changes to that.”
READ MORE – Fernando Alonso fastest in opening Singapore session
Discussion about this post