Christian Horner’s return to F1 has reportedly been ‘vetoed’ by Renault after a recent update on the Alpine stake sale saga.

A recent report from the BBC claimed that the deal for Mercedes to buy Otro Capital’s 24 per cent stake in Alpine is now off the table, due to the extreme amount from the valuation.

Otro reportedly want $720million for their shareholding, a figure that would value Alpine as a whole at $3billion. Otro paid around $233million for the stake as recently as 2023, and Mercedes reportedly view Alpine as worth around $2.3billion.

Mercedes’ absence leaves the door open for Horner, but the rest of the report published last weekend suggests Renault could block a return for the axed team principal.

The report confirmed that alongside Horner’s group of investors, there are also a number of private equity groups interested in purchasing the stake.

It read: “Renault is said to have decided not to continue with any further talks on the matter.

“The French brand has a power of veto over any sale of the Otro shares until September, and would have used that to block any sale to a group that had links with Horner.”

This isn’t Horner’s last chance of a comeback, however, after he was sighted at an event in Cannes for Chinese brand BYD, not long after they confirmed talks with F1 president Stefano Domenicali about joining the sport.

Horner is said to be ‘in talks’ with BYD, with his experience being sought by the manufacturer to help them overcome the political and commercial hurdles of joining the grid.