Jul.8 (GMM) FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has hinted he already knows where Christian Horner’s Formula 1 comeback will take place.
Horner, who attended last weekend’s British GP for the first time since leaving Red Bull, has been linked with several projects, including a possible BYD-backed twelfth team.
Asked by the Oxford Mail whether he expected Horner to return to Formula 1, Ben Sulayem replied: “Yes.”
Pressed on whether a comeback was likely, he added: “He will get back. Where is not for me to say – even if I know. It is for him to say.”
The FIA president also made clear he believes Horner’s track record outweighs all the controversy that surrounded his departure from Red Bull.
“You look at his background,” Ben Sulayem said. “Everybody makes mistakes, but did he deliver?
“What do you want? Do you want to win or not? Do you want to give it a try or not?”
Horner, meanwhile, admitted discussions about his future are already underway now that he is no longer contractually restricted.
“Of course, there are talks,” he told The Times. “But until recently, I couldn’t do anything because of my leave of absence.
“Now, technically speaking, I’m a free man.”
The 52-year-old insisted he will only return if the opportunity is significant. “If I come back, it will only be in a position where I have the opportunity to make a difference, and to win.
“If you’re not doing it to win, why do it at all?”
While BYD remains the strongest paddock rumour, Horner refused to be drawn. “Huge entity – huge, huge, huge company,” he said when asked about the Chinese manufacturer.
“But there has been so much speculation. I think I’ve been linked to every team on the grid so far.”
He added: “I’m in no hurry.”
