Christian Horner ‘approached’ Haas over possible F1 return with ‘talks’ held

Christian Horner approached Haas over possibly joining the team, it has been confirmed by its team principal, Ayao Komatsu.

Horner has been out of F1 since July after being sacked by Red Bull, but the long-time team principal is reportedly eager to find a way back in.

Christian Horner’s Haas approach confirmed

Horner’s sacking by Red Bull meant the start of a new era, not least for Red Bull with the Briton having been in the paddock for every race of the team’s existence.

But at the age of 51, it has been suggested Horner feels he has unfinished business in the sport and has been looking for a way back into the paddock.

One of those suggested ways was with Haas, an independent team owned by American Gene Haas. Its team principal Komatsu has now confirmed the former Red Bull boss made an approach.

“Yes it’s true that he approached us,” Komatsu said in Singapore. “And then one of our guys had an exploratory, let’s say, a talk. Then that’s it. Then nothing’s gone any further.”

Komatsu stressed he did not wish to “fuel” the story any further but Horner’s reaching out to Haas, rather than the other way round, is further evidence that he is keen for a quick return to the sport he spent more than two decades in.

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Last week, Horner agreed a $100m package with Red Bull to sever all ties, thus clearing his way for a return to Formula 1.

Having pushed unsuccessfully in the past to become a part owner of Red Bull in the same way that Toto Wolff is with Mercedes, Horner is said to be keen to ensure that stipulation is part of any new deal.

Of the current 10 teams, Alpine and Aston Martin have been most heavily linked and the latter’s team principal Andy Cowell was asked about the possibility of Horner joining the team.

Cowell refused to outright deny an arrival of Horner but did suggest Aston already has a “strong setup”, including Horner’s former colleague Adrian Newey.

“Christian’s record speaks for itself,” Cowell said in Singapore. “You know he’s a great competitor.

“I guess it’s down to Christian to work out what he wants to do. He might want to walk away from the sport, he might want to do something else in the sport, but that’s down to Christian, isn’t it?

“I think we’ve got a strong setup and we’re marching forward with that. We’re a relatively young team. We’ve got great facilities, we’re developing the tools. We’ve taken on strong people like Adrian, Enrico [Cardile].

“And with Lawrence [Stroll]’s vision, and with the sponsorship revenues that are coming in, I think we’ve got a pretty strong team.”

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