Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t think Christian Horner’s story ends here—unless Red Bull has locked the door behind him.
Speaking on his MontoyAS podcast, the former Williams and McLaren racer floated the idea that Horner’s separation agreement could include a clause barring him from returning to the F1 pit wall. “If Christian has the chance, he’ll come back,” Montoya said. “Maybe part of the deal was that he can’t work in F1 again? That’s the only thing that would stop him.” And if there’s no such restriction? “If I were running a team like Aston Martin, Cadillac, Alpine, Haas, I’d hire him in two seconds.”
Horner was dismissed by Red Bull after the British Grand Prix, ending a 20-year run that yielded six Constructors’ titles and eight Drivers’ crowns, split evenly between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen. Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies has been installed as Red Bull’s chief executive and team principal. PlanetF1 reported this month that Horner has been removed as a director of Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology, further closing the books on an era that reshaped the team from upstart to powerhouse.
A quick return seemed plausible earlier this year, with Ferrari sounding out Horner before ultimately re-upping Fred Vasseur. Since then, the 51-year-old has kept a low profile, surfacing publicly on a family holiday in Croatia. The prevailing paddock view remains that Horner’s next act—perhaps in a team-ownership-style role akin to Toto Wolff’s stake-and-steer setup at Mercedes—is a matter of timing and opportunity.
Wolff, for his part, couldn’t resist a final volley. He told media Horner “often behaved like an asshole” over the last decade-plus, accusing his old sparring partner of operating to “completely different values,” while admitting F1 had lost “a real personality.” The two men defined the 2021 title fight between Verstappen and Hamilton, and Wolff conceded the sport is thinner without its chief antagonist.
If Montoya’s hunch is right and a restrictive covenant is in play, the calendar—not the market—decides Horner’s future. But if there’s daylight in that agreement, expect phones to start ringing. Teams with ambition and headroom—think Aston Martin, Alpine, Haas, and any incoming Cadillac entry—won’t need a sales pitch. Horner’s track record sells itself, and Formula 1 rarely turns down a good comeback.
