Aston Martin staff have been told rumours that Christian Horner might join the Formula 1 team are false. It is understood that employees at the outfit’s Silverstone factory were informed earlier this week that, despite speculation that the former Red Bull chief could make his comeback next year with Aston Martin, such a move is “not happening”.

It comes after Adrian Newey was confirmed as the squad’s next team principal from next year, taking over from Andy Cowell who will focus instead on Aston’s relationship with new engine supplier Honda. Lawrence Stroll, the team’s billionaire owner, told staff on Tuesday that leadership structure will remain intact, without the addition of Horner.

It had been reported that Horner was given a secret tour of Aston Martin’s factory earlier this week, thought the team has denied that took place. Is is known that the former Red Bull chief has reached out to Stroll, as well as several other team owners, about a potential future partnership with the Brit keen to return to F1 next year when his gardening leave ends.

While Stroll did not deny any further contact with Horner in his speech to staff, it is clear there is no immediate plan to make room in the team’s leadership structure for another senior figure. Newey is now team principal alongside his previous role as managing technical partner, while Cowell and Mike Krack, now head of Aston Martin’s trackside operations, are two other former TPs who still have influential roles within the outfit.

Newey is present at the Qatar Grand Prix this weekend and watched on from the pit wall as Fernando Alonso qualified fourth for the Sprint race and converted that into a seventh-placed finish, scoring two points. Speaking to Sky Sports, the celebrated designer had given the impression that his team principal role may not have been a long-term situation.

He said: “To be perfectly honest, it became very evident that, with the challenge of the ’26 power unit and Andy’s skillset in terms of helping the three-way relationship between Honda, Aramco and ourselves, it is absolutely his skillset. So he very magnanimously volunteered to be heavily involved in that through the first part of ’26.

“That left a kind of, ‘Okay, who’s going to be TP?’ And since I’m going to be doing all the early races anyway, it doesn’t actually particularly change my workload because I’m there anyway so I may as well pick up that bit.”

It is understood that Aston Martin remain in conversations with at least one of the outside candidates who were named as potential replacements for Cowell when it was first reported that the team was looking to make a team principal change. Previous chief executive Martin Whitmarsh quickly ruled out a return while Mattia Binotto, the ex-Ferrari boss who now leads the Audi F1 project, is happy where he is.

Former McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl was the other man in the frame for the job and does not currently have a role in F1. He is not expected to join Aston Martin soon but is likely to be a front-running candidate should Newey’s appointment turn out to be a short-term one.