Current investors are on course to make a huge profit

CHRISTIAN HORNER is locked in talks to buy a stake in Alpine – but he is reportedly banned from making his Formula One return until the end of April.

Red Bull won six Constructors’ Championship titles while the Brit, 52, was their team principal and CEO.

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Christian Horner is in talks over a return to the paddockCredit: Getty

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Ryan Reynolds is among Alpine’s current investorsCredit: Getty
But German media outlet Bild report that Horner is in discussions that could lead to him acquiring shares in French team Alpine.

Negotiations are “complicated” and understood to not be at an advanced stage.

Horner needs to have talks with Renault and Otro Capital, an American investment firm which holds 24 per cent of Alpine’s shares, at the same time.

But he has been boosted as there have been suggestions that Otro Capital and its investors, which includes Wrexham co-owner Ryan Reynolds and NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, are ready to sell their stake.

They are “dissatisfied” with the team’s performance after finishing last in the race for the constructors’ championship this season.

Otro Capital also stand to make a huge profit after the shares they bought in June 2023 for in the region of £174million are now valued at close to £700m.

Horner has been linked with a return to F1 since being sacked by Red Bull in July – ending his 20-year reign.

And he has gathered investors to finance a takeover of Alpine, which would result in him providing the racing team with his expertise.

Horner, who was handed a £80m pay-off after being axed by Red Bull, is determined to show his former employers and its management that they were wrong to send him packing.

But he wants to be a co-owner, rather than an employee, to prevent him finding himself in a similar situation.

Negotiations over the sale of Otro Capital’s shares will continue at the beginning of 2026.

Horner is still banned from heading back to the F1 paddock until the end of April under the terms of his sacking.

He won eight World Drivers’ Championships, and 124 Grands Prix as Red Bull chief – the second most as a team principal in the sport’s history.