Flavio Briatore: Christian Horner interested in Otro’s Alpine F1 team stake

Flavio Briatore has said Christian Horner is one of the interested parties in buying Otro Capital’s stake in the Alpine Formula 1 team.

Since being sacked as Red Bull F1 team boss last July, Horner's future has been the subject of numerous rumours and he has been linked to several teams.

Horner had been in talks with Aston Martin and Haas in recent months, but the most serious possibility for a return to F1 in a management role now appears to be Alpine, and Briatore has acknowledged discussions are under way between the Briton and certain shareholders.

Alpine, a team majority-owned by Renault, has a 24% ownership which belongs to a group of investors headlined by Otro Capital, which is linked to celebrity figures such as Ryan Reynolds and Michael B. Jordan, which secured its stake in the F1 team for €200m in 2023.

This 24% stake seems to be a prime target for Horner, because of his intention to hold shares in whatever project he joins, rather than taking on just a management role – a factor that led preliminary talks with other teams to unravel.

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

When asked about the subject during a media briefing following the presentation of Alpine's 2026 livery, Briatore, who holds the position of executive advisor, said: "Otro wants to sell the participation in Alpine. It's a few groups interested to buy 24% of Otro. We don't know.

"The moment somebody buys 24% of Otro, we still have 74-75% and we discuss. But for the moment, this is the situation.

"I’ve known Christian for many years, I talk with Christian anyway, but this has nothing to do with me.

"First, you need to buy Otro, and after Renault needs to accept the buyer, and after we see what happens. But it has no link with me because he is negotiating with Otro, not negotiating with us."

Currently, Steve Nielsen is officially the team's managing director, even though Briatore is effectively the boss of the Alpine F1 team.