Photo: Race Pictures

F1 Today | Alpine confirm Horner interest as Pirelli reveal Barcelona tyre choices

22:59, 25 Jan

byTobia Elia

As always, let’s take a look at the two main Formula 1 stories from today, Sunday 25 January.

Alpine confirm Christian Horner interest in F1 team co-ownership

Speaking around the launch of the A526 — Alpine’s challenger for the 2026 season — Flavio Briatore was willing to address questions regarding the former Red Bull CEO and team principal, who has been out of the spotlight since his departure last July, with Laurent Mekies taking over the role.

Those comments only intensified speculation at a time when discussions have been circulating about Horner potentially joining the company by acquiring Otro Capital’s 24% minority stake.

In light of the growing attention, Alpine moved to set the record straight with an official statement.

Christian Horner at a press conference - Photo: Race Pictures

Red Bull stand out with aggressive tyre pick for Barcelona pre-season testing

Pirelli has confirmed which tyre compounds will be available for the Barcelona test, as well as the specific selections and quantities chosen by each team.

At Montmeló, teams are permitted to run on three of the five scheduled test days. Several outfits have already opted to sit out the opening day, while the possibility of rain could further disrupt planned running.

The test will feature the C1, C2 and C3 compounds, which at this venue correspond to hard, medium and soft tyres. Intermediate and full wet tyres will also be on hand should conditions require them.

The individual allocations reveal starkly different approaches. Red Bull has taken a notably aggressive route, opting for 18 sets of the C3 soft and none of the C2 medium. Ferrari, on the other hand, has gone the opposite way, bringing just three sets of softs while loading up on 12 sets of the medium compound.

Photo: Pirelli

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