Former Red Bull F1 team boss Christian Horner has been back in the spotlight recently, with the release of his new autobiography Drive.

Horner’s book is packed full of F1 bombshells, from almost making some shock driver signings to being one race away from losing his own job.

The former principal’s personal life has seen devastating heartbreak too, happening while his F1 career was also in turmoil. Horner has reflected on these crucial moments when promoting his book - we run through the biggest surprises below.

Red Bull almost signed Fernando Alonso for 2008

Among the stunning storylines that Horner reveals include the fact that Fernando Alonso almost signed for Red Bull in 2008.

The Spaniard had signed a multi-year deal with McLaren from 2007, but the driver-team relationship quickly broke down with the emergence of his rapid rookie team-mate, Lewis Hamilton.

Alonso would claim four race victories that season, tying with Hamilton and finishing one point behind eventual champion Kimi Räikkönen.

However, with preferential treatment over Hamilton not forthcoming from McLaren, double world champion Alonso wanted out and began to look for a new seat elsewhere - bringing Horner and Red Bull into the story.

“Fernando we came closest to, the paperwork had been exchanged and that was after coming to the end of his McLaren period,” Horner told The Race when discussing his memoir.

However, despite Red Bull’s willingness to take on Alonso, a snag came up.

“He was only prepared to commit to a single season - or his management were,” Horner continued. “And Dietrich [Mateschitz, Red Bull founder] was very much of the view that ‘Look if you’re going to commit to this, it needs to be two or nothing’.

“And there was this fear that we were going to be this stop-gap before Ferrari.”

While Red Bull decided not to take on Alonso that time, Horner explains that wasn’t the only time the Milton Keynes squad contemplated hiring the fiery Spaniard.

“Then of course Flavio [Briatore, then-Renault F1 boss] playing the role of manager and team boss even in 2010, when he wanted to switch Mark Webber [with Alonso, between Renault and Red Bull] - ‘Take Fernando, you’ll win the championship with him.’

“But I would say probably that first round was, in reality, the closest we came.”

Horner was nearly removed as Red Bull boss in 2006 - and replaced by Guenther Steiner

Horner would ultimately win a raft of world titles and race victories as team boss with Red Bull, but another surprising revelation from the book is that he came close to being fired after barely a year in the job.

Red Bull had enjoyed an impressive debut season in 2005, but started the following year badly, scoring just two points in the first six races.

Even more eyebrow-raising is that Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz and his executive Danny Bahar decided early on that year to choose between continuing with Horner, or promoting his maverick then-colleague, and future Haas principal, Guenther Steiner.

Horner badly needed a result to save his job, as he discussed with his former driver David Coulthard on the Scot’s Up To Speed podcast.

“They gave me a contract before the Monaco race saying my contract wasn’t going to be renewed,” says Horner. “So, thank God you got that podium!”

Coulthard’s third place at the 2006 Monaco GP changed the trajectory of the season, and saved Horner’s job.

“Literally going into that weekend I was told: ‘Your services are unlikely to be required at the end of the year.

“It was a very volatile time in the team, and you constantly felt like you were having to look over your shoulder.”

However, Horner was ultimately able to thank the performance of his Red Bull colleagues for keeping him in work.

“David was fantastic during that period, and [new car designer] Adrian Newey had just come into the team.

Red Bull boss’s former partner died during his departure from Red Bull

Horner’s eventual 2025 departure from the team he built up was painful enough, but the former principal found his life in even further turmoil when his ex-partner Beverly Allen, passed away during the same period.

Mother to one of his children, 13-year-old Olivia, succumbed to eye cancer at the age of 58. It meant Horner was fighting an emotional battle on all fronts.

That entire period “was painful. Very painful,” he told The Guardian’s Donald McRae.

“I didn’t really process it till a month later because, in the immediate aftermath, I focused on supporting my daughter [Olivia] through a hideous period.”

Niki Lauda tried to persuade Horner to become Mercedes F1 boss

By the end of 2012, Horner and Red Bull had clinched multiple championships with Sebastian Vettel on a sensational winning streak.

Mercedes meanwhile, which had returned to F1 in 2010 after a 55-year absence, had struggled over the same period.

Merc’s non-executive director and grand prix legend Niki Lauda was looking for a solution, and saw Horner as the way forward.

The Red Bull boss had become familiar with Lauda when they both were in discussions to sign Lewis Hamilton for their respective teams, and talks progressed to the Red Bull boss’s own future from there.

"Maybe our interactions over Lewis had stuck with him because later that year, during the Christmas break, Niki came to my house and asked me to join Mercedes as his team principal,” says Horner in his book. “I was caught off guard."

However, the Milton Keynes principal couldn’t see himself at another team.

"Leaving Red Bull had never crossed my mind,” he said. “When he then laid out a series of dazzling numbers, I realised he was discussing my potential salary. ‘Red Bull will never pay you what Mercedes can,’

“‘I respect you as a racer. I want you to come. Besides, Helmut [Marko] is a miserable b******'."’

"I listened to his offer and shook my head. At that point, Sebastian was at the peak of his powers and Red Bull were in the ascendancy.

"‘Niki, I’ve been winning World Championships with Red Bull,’ I said.

"'I’ve built everything from scratch. I feel a loyalty to Dietrich and the team. So as much as I appreciate this, I’m not going to join Mercedes'.”

It remains another case of ‘what if?’ from Horner’s fascinating book.