Christian Horner rubbishes ‘wild rumours’ he’s behind Porsche deal collapsing

Christian Horner has rubbished speculation that his long-term future at Red Bull is behind the collapse of the Porsche deal, the Briton saying that’s nothing but “wild rumours”.

Last month’s confirmation of the 2026 engine regulations was expected to be followed by an announcement that Porsche would be teaming up with Red Bull when the new rules took effect.

That never came, and as the time went by, it was claimed that the deal is on shaking grounds as Porsche want a 50 percent stake in the Red Bull Technology business.

The team said no, Helmut Marko telling Sport1: “Porsche will not become a shareholder with us.”

Christian Horner backed this up at Zandvoort, the team boss adamant Red Bull is an “independent team, that is the way we have always operated in terms of being flexible and the ability to move quickly and efficiently.

“That is part of the DNA of what Red Bull is.”

However, since then a rumour has emerged claiming that the Briton’s position with the team is also one of the sticking points.

It was suggested that, with Porsche in the mix, Horner could lose his job as Red Bull Racing team boss, a suggestion he has scoffed at.

“There are always wild rumours in this paddock,” he said as per GPFans.

“I recently made a commitment to this team in the long-term and indeed any discussions we have had have been contingent upon the management structure being the same, which has always been fully accepted.

“So I don’t really need to comment on speculation.”

But while Red Bull are not open to Porsche buying into Red Bull Technology, Red Bull Powertrains is, as Horner put it, a “different challenge.

“Of course, if there was a partner to potentially look at working with on the Powertrains, that would make logical sense.”

The company’s motorsport advisor Marko also hinted at this to Auto Motor und Sport, that under the right conditions, co-operation with Porsche and “RB Powertrains” is still possible.

With Porsche not set to get what they want out of the Red Bull deal, F1-Insider reports that they considering other options.

‘Williams and McLaren have also moved back into the focus of the sports car manufacturer,’ reports the publication.

Both have past links with Porsche, ‘McLaren team boss Andreas Seidl was once responsible at Porsche for the successes with the 919 Hybrid in Le Mans. Ex-VW race director Jost Capito is now team boss at Williams.’