Ralf Schumacher believes Alpine should look to acquire the services of Christian Horner following his release from Red Bull.
Horner, after 20 years at Red Bull, was relieved of his duties last month by the team’s parent company in a shock announcement, with Laurent Mekies taking charge as F1 CEO and team principal.
Horner has previously been linked with Ferrari but, with the Scuderia handing team boss Fred Vasseur a new contract, that door appears to have closed.
However Alpine, based close to Horner’s home in Oxfordshire and currently run by a close Horner confidante in Flavio Briatore, have also been linked with signing the currently unattached executive. And Schumacher insists the Enstone-based team should look to sign the 51-year-old.
"I think the time of figures like Flavio is over,” Schumacher, brother of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, told German outlet Bild.
“You need technically skilled people at the top, someone like Horner. Flavio could then help as an organiser and networker, as a face to the outside world."
While Briatore is in de facto charge of Alpine, the team is currently without a formal team principal after Oliver Oakes’ resignation in May.
Schumacher also praised Mekies and his calming nature at Red Bull, but opined that Max Verstappen’s team is currently “stuck in mediocrity”, positioned fourth in the constructors’ standings.
"He [Mekies] brings back the old Red Bull feeling,” Schumacher added.
“Approachable, human, open – no more of that power struggle in the background. But it will take two to three years until things really get going again.
“Currently, the team is stuck in mediocrity.”
F1 returns next week after the four-week summer break with the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort (31 August).
