Günther Steiner: Horner will not be in a hurry.

      Almost immediately after Christian Horner's dismissal from all posts at Red Bull Racing, rumors began circulating in the paddock that his next place of work might be Alpine, where he also wants to become an investor and co-owner.

      However, Guenther Steiner, the former head of Haas F1, believes such a scenario is unlikely to be realized — the obstacle is the position Flavio Briatore holds in Renault's factory team.

      Formally his title is "executive advisor," but in fact he is the one who leads the team, and Steve Nielsen, who only in September took up the duties of managing director, reports to him.

      According to Steiner, Horner will not be in a great hurry to return to the paddock, but will wait for the right opportunity to pursue his new plans.

      "I think he'll wait a bit," the Italian mused while appearing on the Red Flags podcast. "He really wants to return, but I don't think there's any option right now that would allow him to do what he wants. I suppose he wants to become a co-owner of a team, and at the moment, in my opinion, there is nothing for sale that could be bought.

      Even if you wanted to buy something, it would be very expensive. I know Horner has a lot of money (thanks to his deal with Red Bull), but the funds he has are completely insufficient to buy a team.

      And since he will not agree to take any position other than team principal, then even if he moves to Alpine to work with Briatore, I want to say that it won't work. If Christian were to lead the team with Flavio in place, then Flavio would have to leave, and right now it certainly doesn't look like he's going anywhere anytime soon.

      Christian can wait. My point is, he has no need to rush."

      Last week it emerged that Horner had finally parted ways with Red Bull — the parties reached an agreement under which he is to be paid around $100 million as compensation for the early termination of his contract. He also has the option to return to Formula 1 closer to mid-2026.