Will Buxton: We will hear more about Horner.

      Will Buxton, a well-known British journalist who long collaborated with the official website of the championship and, since this year, has been commentating IndyCar races on American TV, still maintains connections with Formula 1. By the way, he was among the first to predict that Lewis Hamilton would sign a contract with Ferrari, and he was right.

      Currently, Buxton shared a different kind of forecast: in his opinion, if Ferrari decides to replace Frederic Vasseur with Christian Horner, Hamilton won't stay with the Maranello team for long. However, this is not the only forecast Buxton made while participating in the Sports Agents podcast.

      On Wednesday, the motorsport world learned a shocking news that Christian Horner had been dismissed from Red Bull Racing, which he led since 2005, and was replaced by Laurent Meckes, who became the new team principal and CEO.

      Of course, everyone is interested in how future events might unfold, as experts like Horner rarely stay unemployed for long, and there are already rumors that Ferrari and Alpine are showing interest in him.

      Buxton believes that the second option is more probable.

      “I can't imagine this being the last time we see Christian Horner or hear about him — rumors this year already suggest he's being lured to Alpine, and there are rumors about his contacts with Ferrari. However, in my opinion, the Alpine scenario is less likely than the Ferrari one. He has quite close ties with Flavio Briatore, and from my point of view, this option seems more logical.

      If Ferrari decides to replace Vasseur with Christian Horner, I don't think Lewis will remain a Ferrari driver for long.”

      There is also another theory suggesting that Horner could return to Formula 1 not just as the head of Alpine F1 but as a shareholder of the team. For example, Toto Wolff, the head of Mercedes, owns a third of its shares, and Adrian Newey, who moved from Red Bull to Aston Martin, was also offered a stake in the Silverstone team.

      However, another popular TV commentator, David Croft, doubted the realism of such a scheme for Horner, given that he does not have sufficient financial resources for this.

      Considering the unprecedented rise in Formula 1’s popularity, the value of team shares is at its peak, and according to experts, Alpine F1’s assets are estimated at around $1.5 billion.

      Even if we assume Horner receives compensation of $50 million from Red Bull for early contract termination, his personal wealth is estimated at around 40 million pounds.

      “There may be other potential buyers of Alpine shares, so it’s not yet certain that Christian can acquire a stake in the team,” Croft said during the Sky Sports News broadcast. “Moreover, there's the question of what resources he can rely on. Although he is a very wealthy man, I don't think he has the same financial capabilities as Toto Wolff.”

      For reference: Wolff is a very successful investor, who at one time invested in Williams’ securities before becoming a co-owner of Mercedes, and his wealth is estimated by Forbes at $1.8 billion.