Ecclestone pushed Horner toward Ferrari return

Bernie Ecclestone says he tried to steer Christian Horner toward Ferrari after his Red Bull exit, but believes any Formula 1 comeback now carries a major risk for the former team boss because he will be judged against the success he had with Red Bull’s resources.

Speaking to select media including RacingNews365 during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend, the former Formula 1 CEO said he had discussed Ferrari with Horner as speculation over the Briton’s next move continues. “I speak to him quite a bit. Early on, I was trying to convince him to try and be at Ferrari,” Ecclestone said.

Horner left Red Bull last summer after a 20-year spell as team principal, ending one of the most successful partnerships in the paddock. He has since completed gardening leave and is free to return to F1 in any role.

Ecclestone said that freedom does not make the next step straightforward. “Christian's in a difficult position anyway,” he said. “Wherever he goes, if he doesn't succeed, people will say, 'Ah, Christian, you were very good when you were with Red Bull with big budgets' and things like that. 'Now you're not winning because of that' or something.' So it's difficult for him.”

That pressure helps explain why Horner’s future has become one of the paddock’s recurring talking points. Since leaving Red Bull, he has been linked with Ferrari and Aston Martin, while more recent reports have suggested a possible route through Alpine, where he has allegedly been assembling a consortium to buy Otro Capital’s 24 percent stake in the team.

A Ferrari move, though, appears to face a structural obstacle. The summaries indicate Horner is said to want a broader position in the style of Toto Wolff, with significant shareholding rather than serving only as team principal, and that is the kind of arrangement Ferrari would find difficult, if not impossible, to offer.

For now, Ecclestone said he cannot see where Horner will land next. “No idea,” he said, leaving Ferrari as the move he once pushed for and Horner’s return still unresolved as the next decision could define how his Red Bull legacy is judged outside Milton Keynes.