Race Report

HORNER EYES F1 RETURN WITH BYD IN AUDACIOUS 12TH TEAM BID

By Kavi Khandelwal

Christian Horner could be on the verge of a Formula One comeback — and it might be bigger than anyone anticipated.

The former Red Bull team principal, sacked by the Milton Keynes outfit last year for performance reasons, has reportedly been holding meetings with BYD Vice President Stella Li as part of a bold push to bring the Chinese EV giant into the sport as F1’s 12th constructor. No confirmation has been made by either party, but Horner was understood to have been present at Cannes as a guest of BYD, fuelling speculation around a formal partnership. BYD — now officially the world’s leading electric car manufacturer — is said to be eyeing a full entry bid rather than a minority stake in an existing outfit, looking to leverage its $125 billion net worth to secure a place on the grid. That would mark a significant escalation from Horner’s earlier reported involvement in a bidding war for a 24% stake in Alpine held by Otro Capital — a route he now appears to have set aside entirely. The development comes as Sky Sports F1 insider Craig Slater suggests Horner’s return to the paddock has genuine backing at the highest levels of the sport. “There’s an enthusiasm for his return among stakeholders and leadership figures in F1, but the individual team situations are complicated,” Slater told Sky Sports. He added that Horner has made clear he has no interest in simply returning to the pit wall — the right project would need to involve a meaningful ownership stake in a team capable of winning. The institutional appetite appears to be there. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has spoken positively about a potential Chinese entry bid, stating that Formula 1’s commercial rights holder would likely agree to it as a matter of sustaining the business. BYD Vice President Stella Li confirmed that the company was in “close contact” with FOM and F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali during the Chinese Grand Prix weekend in Shanghai. Domenicali, however, has tempered expectations. “We’ll only evaluate a bid of great significance because I think we’re already at a point with no more room; logistically, we’re at the limit,” the Italian said. The current Concorde Agreement does allow for up to 12 teams on the grid, meaning a BYD entry is not structurally impossible — but the path to approval is rarely smooth, as Andretti and Cadillac’s protracted battle to join the grid demonstrated. For Horner, the scale of the BYD project would represent precisely the kind of opportunity he has been waiting for since his departure from Red Bull. He has been linked to both Alpine and Haas in recent months, with reports consistently noting his desire for an ownership stake rather than a team principal role alone. A ground-up entry backed by one of the world’s most capitalised automotive brands would offer exactly that — and then some. Whether BYD’s interest converts into a formal bid remains to be seen. But with Horner apparently embedded in the conversation and sport leadership quietly nodding its approval, the pieces for one of F1’s most unexpected comeback stories are beginning to fall into place.