Horner-BYD, the sensational alliance that could expand F1 to 12 teams

Alpine odds, but not only Christian Horner has not lost interest in Formula 1 and indeed could be working to make a sensational return in style, at the helm of a new team that would become the 12th on the grid of a Circus which just this year has expanded to accommodate the newly entered Cadillac. For the moment this scenario is still an F1 fantasy hypothesis, but in the medium-term future it could become reality. The brand that Horner would lead and which has already shown an interest in F1 publicly is the Chinese giant BYD, which in recent years has established itself as one of the largest car manufacturers in the world and has overtaken Tesla as the leader in the production of electric cars. The British website PlanetF1 reported this sensational indiscretion. There are several clues to the feasibility of this operation: Horner wants to become a shareholder of a team and no longer ‘just’ team principal, as was the case in his twenty years at Red Bull. It is no mystery that he moved in an attempt to acquire 24% of the shares of the Alpine team, put up for sale by the American private equity company Otro Capital. As is known, those shares are also tempting for Mercedes and Toto Wolff, but recent rumors have suggested that BYD would also be in the running for the same share package. At the end of April Stella Li, vice president of BYD, had publicly declared that the Chinese group is actually evaluating entry into Formula 1: “It is a possibility that we are taking into consideration. It could be an excellent training ground to further test our technologies”, she said. Extra-large grid However, BYD’s goal may not be to simply acquire a minority stake in an existing F1 team, but to also concretely evaluate the possibility of creating a completely new team. Here Horner would come into play again: the English manager was in fact a guest of BYD in some Gala evenings organized by the Chinese brand in Cannes on the occasion of the Film Festival which is currently taking place in the French city. BYD posted a video of this event on social media and Horner is clearly visible as a guest of the automaker. Li and Horner would have discussed a possible collaboration if BYD actually decides to enter the Circus with its own team. Naturally, a further enlargement of the grid would have to receive the green light from the FIA ​​and F1. President Mohammed Ben Sulayem has already said several times that he is in favor of a further expansion of the championship should the right suitor arrive and has made no secret of considering BYD one of these; it would be more difficult to convince Stefano Domenicali and F1. The CEO of the Circus had said in the past that he wanted to “evaluate only offers of great relevance, because I believe that we have already reached a point where there is no more room for maneuver; from a logistical point of view, we are at the limit”. However, a Chinese manufacturer of BYD’s magnitude could represent a temptation that is difficult to ignore, especially since the existence of talks on the Li-Domenicali line has already been confirmed. F1, in constant evolution, could re-embrace an old knowledge in a few years while at the same time expanding towards new horizons.

Automobile Magazine – F1 English News , 2026-05-19 18:01:00