Cadillac make clear Christian Horner statement after F1 2026 driver announcement

Cadillac F1 CEO Dan Towriss has addressed the rumour mill regarding a potential move for Christian Horner.

Having announced Valtteri Bottas and former Red Bull racer Sergio Perez as its first Formula 1 driver pairing, no signing of ousted ex-Red Bull team boss Christian Horner will follow.

Christian Horner NOT joining Cadillac F1

PlanetF1.com exclusively revealed earlier this month that Sergio Perez – formerly of Red Bull – had reached an agreement to return to the grid with Cadillac. That was confirmed on Tuesday.

Alongside Perez, Cadillac also snapped up Valtteri Bottas to complete a highly-experienced first driver line-up for F1 2026. The American outfit will enjoy a pairing that boasts a combined 16 grand prix wins, 10 for Bottas and six for Perez.

But it will not be signing a team boss who has overseen 14 world championship wins to bolster the effort.

It was shortly after the British Grand Prix when Red Bull announced the immediate dismissal of Christian Horner, the boss of Red Bull Racing for over 20 years.

But, launching a bid to sign the 51-year-old is not something which Cadillac has done, or intends to do.

The incoming team will be led by former Marussia chief Graeme Lowdon as team principal, who was announced in the role late last year.

“There have been no talks with Christian Horner, and there are no plans to do that,” Towriss told the media.

“I’d like to officially shut down that rumour.

“Our support, belief, and backing are in Graeme Lowdon.”

More on Cadillac F1 from PlanetF1.com

👉 Revealed: Valtteri Bottas’s first words after Cadillac F1 2026 move confirmed

👉 What Sergio Perez can offer Cadillac in F1 return revealed by former boss

Whether Horner will look to pursue any future return to Formula 1 remains unclear.

The series’ former chief Bernie Ecclestone – a close friend of Horner’s – believes that unless team ownership is on the table, Horner would not be interested in an F1 comeback.

Horner has seen Red Bull’s former F1 design guru Adrian Newey move to Aston Martin as managing technical partner and a team shareholder. His Mercedes frenemy Toto Wolff, meanwhile, is a one-third owner of that F1 squad, as well as team principal.

“I don’t know how or where or whether he wants to [come back to F1],” Ecclestone said of Horner when speaking with Sky F1.

“He probably doesn’t want to, because the position he really wanted at Red Bull was to own part of the team.

“Unless he gets somebody to put the money up to buy a team, I can’t see it happening.”

Read next: Sergio Perez sets one clear Cadillac F1 target after F1 2026 return announced