Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner returned to the Formula One paddock at Silverstone on July 5, 2026.
FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem confirmed the veteran manager will make a comeback to the sport.
Horner, who spent 20 years leading Red Bull before being dismissed last year, visited the FIA hospitality suite ahead of the 52-lap British Grand Prix.
His appearance coincided with a packed racing weekend at Silverstone, which also featured Formula Two races and Formula One sprint qualifying sessions.
Lewis Hamilton secured the top spot for Ferrari ahead of Mercedes-AMG's Kimi Antonelli.
FIA President Backs Horner's Return
Addressing the presence of the 52-year-old manager, the FIA president expressed clear support for his reinstatement into the sport.
"Yes," replied Mohammed Ben Sulayem when asked if he would like to see Horner return to F1.
The federation leader further indicated that a paddock comeback remains highly probable for the championship-winning manager.
"He will get back. Where is not for me to say – even if I know.
It is for him to say," added Ben Sulayem.
The FIA president emphasized that professional results and historical achievements should take priority over personal background considerations.
"I am a believer that when you have a team you have to forget about what this person is doing, his personality, do you want the result or not?"
continued Ben Sulayem.
Ben Sulayem pointed to Horner's extensive track record, which includes securing eight world drivers' championships and six constructors' titles during his tenure.
"You look at his background. Please.
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?"
stated Ben Sulayem.
The FIA leader concluded by separating minor behavioral issues from major legal or safety infractions in a professional team environment.
"There is behaviours, and bad behaviours, and if you do bad behaviour it will catch on you and nobody will want you," concluded Ben Sulayem.
"But it is about results, you bring someone, you pay him millions to get results.
Of course, he shouldn't go and kill someone, or drink and driving, that is bad behaviour but I said certain behaviours," added Ben Sulayem.
Horner Addresses Speculation
Horner has recently been linked to several prominent organizations, including Alpine, Aston Martin, Ferrari, and Chinese automotive manufacturer BYD.
"I'd only look at doing the right thing, and something that had an opportunity to win at the end of the day," Horner told Sky Sports.
The veteran manager expressed optimism about the current state of the global racing series and dismissed immediate speculation regarding his next destination.
"F1 is such a great place, the racing has been super this year.
The interest in F1 is sky high, and there's so much interest from people who want to get involved in F1.
We'll see, I'm in no rush," added Horner.
Horner noted that the rumors regarding his future have connected him with practically every competitor in the paddock.
"BYD are a huge company. So much speculation – I've been going to every team on the grid so far!"
remarked Horner.
He concluded by explaining his personal connection to the Silverstone event and reflecting on his recent period away from the pit wall.
"Ultimately, I'm a fan, the British Grand Prix is in town, and I've not missed one since 1993 so it's good to be here," shared Horner.
"I've enjoyed my time out, I did 20 years straight with the Red Bull guys – the first time I've ever had time to get off the hamster wheel," stated Horner.
On the track, Mercedes-AMG drivers expressed mixed reactions following the initial sprint qualifying sessions, with Antonelli narrowly missing out on the top spot.
"Sprint Qualifying was incredibly close and it's frustrating to miss out on pole by such a small margin.
I didn't feel completely comfortable in the car during SQ1, but then SQ2 felt like night and day difference.
The balance came to me much more and I was able to get back into the rhythm and show the pace we had.
My lap in SQ3 was a solid but Lewis did a great job, so congratulations to him.
We can be happy with the progress we made throughout the session and now the focus is fully on tomorrow.
It's clear that Ferrari, and the rest of the competition, have made a lot of progress so we know we're in for a real fight.
That's exactly the sort of challenge we enjoy though; we have the opportunity to fight for the Sprint win, and we'll be going for it.
We know we have all the ingredients we need to have a strong race and we'll do everything we can to maximise the result," said Kimi Antonelli.
His teammate George Russell qualified in fifth position and acknowledged that the team lacked the pace of the frontrunners.
"We've often managed to find a step when it comes to the final part of qualifying, but unfortunately that wasn't the case today.
We weren't too far off P3, but we were still lacking a bit of pace compared to Kimi (Antonelli) and Lewis (Hamilton), so we need to understand where we can improve.
The car didn't feel too bad and the balance was reasonably good but ultimately the lap time just wasn't there when it mattered.
I was a little bit surprised by Ferrari's pace as, on paper, this wouldn't necessarily be their strongest circuit.
Clearly, they have made a strong step forward and they looked competitive throughout the day.
They had the upper hand from the first session onwards, so we've got some work to do overnight to see if we can close that gap and put ourselves in the fight tomorrow," said George Russell.
Meanwhile, the Formula Two championship featured a dominant weekend from Bulgaria's Nikola Toslov, who completed a sprint and feature race double to extend his championship lead over Gabriele Mini to 17 points, while Irishman Alex Dunne finished the feature race in fourth place.
Sprint Qualifying Classification: 1. Lewis Hamilton (Ferrari) 1:28.376, 2.
Kimi Antonelli (Mercedes-AMG) 1:28.387, 3. Max Verstappen (Red Bull) 1:28.697, 4.
Charles Leclerc (Ferrari) 1:28.703, 5. George Russell (Mercedes-AMG) 1:28.733, 6.
Lando Norris (McLaren) 1:28.740, 7. Oscar Piastri (McLaren) 1:28.772.
