Former Red Bull boss Horner linked with return to F1 with Chinese giants BYD

Former Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner is plotting a route back to F1 after holding talks with a Chinese firm to potentially enter a new team.

The ex-principal of the team from Milton Keynes has been out of work for nearly a year after being sacked by Red Bull, but has been linked with a return to the sport with Aston Martin and Alpine over the course of his time out.

With regards to the Alpine links, the 52-year-old is said to have mounted a bid to buy 24 per cent of the team from American investment group Otro Capital, who are also said to be in talks with selling to Mercedes - known detractors of Horner.

However, Horner was seen in France last week where he allegedly met with Stella Li, executive vice chairman of Chinese firm BYD, at the Cannes Film Festival where they discussed a potential entry onto the F1 grid.

The car giant have made no secret of their desire to be a part of F1, with Li admitting as much following last month’s Chinese Grand Prix where she held talks with the sport’s boss Stefano Domenicali.

Speaking at the time, she said: “I like Formula 1 because it's about passion, culture and people dream of being in Formula 1. It's something we're discussing. It's a real opportunity to test our technology.”

Now able to work in the sport again following the expiry of his no-compete clause following his exit from the Milton Keynes team, Horner could be seen as the ideal person to lead the charge for BYD.