Ayo Komatsu: Horner contacted us, that's true.

      Haas F1 confirmed that Christian Horner offered his services to the team, and the parties held talks that could be described as a preliminary sounding-out of positions. However, according to Aio Komatsu, they did not lead to anything.

      Last week there were rumours that Horner could return to the Formula 1 paddock by taking some role with the American team, although that is only one of the options the former Red Bull Racing boss is considering.

      “It’s true, he approached us, and one of our people held talks with him whose purpose was, so to speak, to sound out positions,” the head of Haas F1 told The Race. “But that was the end of it. There is no follow-up, and I have nothing more to add on the matter.”

      One can assume that this outcome of the talks is connected to the fact that Gene Haas, the team owner, does not intend to sell his shares to anyone, although interested parties do appear from time to time. Horner, meanwhile, wants not simply to join the management but to become at least a co-owner, and in that respect, in theory, options with Alpine or Aston Martin might be more promising for him.

      The Race also mentions another scenario which, despite its complexity and being at an early stage, is already being worked on at Formula 1 level: creating another, 12th team in the championship with the financial backing of certain serious investors. Although there is still no concrete detail, this option could also be of interest to Horner.

      Aio Komatsu in Singapore also spoke on another topic — the recent tests that Romain Grosjean carried out at Mugello driving a three-year-old Haas car:

      “Nobody wanted that race in Bahrain (in 2020) to remain his last time behind the wheel of our car. We have always wanted to carry out such tests, but until 2025 we did not have the opportunity to organise them. But now we have a separate crew that works on cars from previous years, and as soon as the opportunity arose, I asked Romain: ‘Do you want to take part in such tests?’

      “Of course he wanted to get behind the wheel, and he wanted them to take place on a suitably fast circuit, and Mugello is one of his favourite tracks. In short, we managed to arrange everything, and it was great!”