The clock has finally struck on a key clause that could open the paddock gates for Christian Horner’s return to Formula 1 – and all roads now point towards Alpine.
On September 7, Renault’s three-year veto over the sale of Otro Capital’s 24 per cent stake in Alpine officially expired, a detail buried in the team’s Articles of Association filed at the UK’s Companies House. Quiet on paper, seismic in consequence.
That veto had allowed Renault to block any sale of the minority holding since Otro Capital bought in back in 2023 for $200 million, a deal that valued the team at $900 million. The market has moved on at breakneck speed since then. F1 team values have surged, and Alpine’s own executive advisor Flavio Briatore told The Race Business podcast in August that the team is now worth around $3.2 billion. On those numbers, Otro Capital is sitting on roughly a fourfold return.
And that is where Horner’s name starts to loom large.
Horner wants more than a pit wall
The former Red Bull team principal has been out of the sport since his controversial sacking in July 2025, a brutal end to a 20-year spell that produced eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ crowns. The settlement that kept him away from the paddock has now run its course. He is free to walk back in.
Horner has never hidden the fact he feels he has “unfinished business” in Formula 1. But he has also been clear: a straight team principal role is not enough this time. He wants something bigger, something closer to the model Toto Wolff enjoys at Mercedes, where Wolff owns 28 per cent of the team and shapes its direction as both boss and shareholder.
That makes Alpine, and specifically Otro’s 24 per cent stake, the most obvious vehicle for a comeback. A significant equity slice is on the table. A team in flux is in need of a clear leader. The fit is obvious.
Renault’s grip loosens – but not entirely
The expiry of the three-year veto is a major hurdle cleared, yet it does not mean a free-for-all. Renault still holds the right to veto up to three offers for the Otro stake even after September 8. Sources, though, downplay that as a serious barrier for any serious bidder; proposals can be reshaped and resubmitted until a structure lands that satisfies all sides.
There is also the question of Renault’s appetite for Horner himself. Back in June, CEO Francois Provost publicly appeared to distance the company from the idea of hiring him. Provost stressed that Renault intends to keep control of the team regardless of who replaces Otro as minority shareholder.
But the landscape looks very different now. The veto is gone, the valuation has rocketed, and a proven operator with a track record of building a modern F1 powerhouse is on the market and actively seeking equity. For Alpine, that combination is rare. For Horner, it is almost tailor-made.
Ferrari whispers, Alpine reality
Horner’s name has not only been linked to Alpine. In recent days, Ferrari have again been dragged into the conversation as pressure builds on team principal Fred Vasseur. Reports suggest Horner previously turned down Ferrari’s top job after an approach from chairman John Elkann, yet his name refuses to disappear from the succession chatter.
The attraction is obvious: Ferrari remain the sport’s most evocative name, and any vacancy at Maranello draws the biggest figures in the game into the rumour mill. But the fit is far less straightforward.
Ferrari would struggle to offer the kind of equity-based, overarching role Horner is now targeting. The Scuderia remains tightly controlled, its structure less accommodating to the sort of ownership stake that has become central to his next move. For a man looking for power and partnership, not just a title and a headset, that matters.
Which is why, with Renault’s long-standing veto finally off the board and Otro Capital’s stake effectively in play, Alpine stands out. A team seeking a new identity, a shareholding ready to change hands, and one of F1’s most successful former team principals waiting for the right door to open.
If Horner is to script a second act in Formula 1, this is the clearest path yet.
