Quietly, Christian Horner is trying to make a return to Formula 1. Yet more and more doors seem to remain closed to him. For instance, it appears difficult for the ex-Red Bull Racing team boss to buy into Alpine. Aston Martin is still being mentioned in the corridors as a possible destination, but he doesn’t seem to be a serious candidate there.

Ralf Schumacher suspects that simply no one is waiting for Horner’s services, and in the German’s view, he has himself to blame for that. “I know Christian Horner won’t like me saying this, but the fact is he has achieved an enormous amount and had incredible success. But of course, because of that success, he has also changed a bit,” Schumacher said on the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.

According to the former Formula 1 driver, Horner was mainly focused on himself and not on his then-team Red Bull.

With Horner at the helm, a team would have to resort to young engineers fresh out of university, the German analyst believes. All in all, Schumacher’s conclusion is not mild for Horner: “His reputation, at least as far as I can judge based on what we hear, isn’t completely ruined, but it is badly damaged.”

Meanwhile, Horner's former Red Bull colleague Adrian Newey has had a torrid start to 2026 as Aston Martin's team principal.

Former Red Bull motorsport advisor, and longtime associate of Newey, Helmut Marko, has revealed he has been in contact with the legendary designer and has not left much room for optimism.

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