Citing his success with Red Bull, FIA president, Mohammed ben Sulayem is convinced that Christian Horner will soon be back in the F1 paddock.

Horner was in the paddock last weekend, almost a year to the day since being fired by the Austrian team, which has suffered, and continues to suffer, numerous other 'departures' ever since.

Ostensibly there to promote his memoir, the canny Briton will have been eyeing potential routes by which he might return, whilst also taking every opportunity to wind-up his detractors.

Linked with Ferrari, the team Bernie Ecclestone believes would have best suited him, Horner has also been linked with Alpine, Aston Martin and potential entrant BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle giant.

Asked if he would like to see Horner back in the paddock on a permanent basis, Ben Sulayem admitted: "Yes!

"He will get back," he added. "Where is not for me to say, even if I know, it is for him to say.

"Look at his background," he continued, "everyone makes mistakes. But did he deliver? What do you want? Do you want to win or not?"

Of course, other than wondering why it is any of the FIA president's business, one has to ask, if, by "mistakes", he is referring to the harassment allegations that, though dismissed following an internal team investigation, should Ben Sulayem be making such a remark.

Talking to The Times, Horner was keen to make clear that any return to the F1 paddock isn't simply about being there.

"Every week there's somebody speculating that I'm going somewhere," he said. "It's flattering that people still talk about you. It's inevitable that conversations happen, but until very recently, I've not been able to do anything.

"I'm now technically a free agent," he continued, "which was always important to me when I left Red Bull, not to be locked down for too long a period."

In terms of here he would like to find himself, he said: "I have no interest in just being a number in a machine. I've more than demonstrated what I'm capable of doing, and if I go back, it would only be in a position where you were empowered to make a change, to drive difference, to win.

"I know that I would become very frustrated very quickly doing anything else. If you can't do it to win, why bother?"

So, Aston Martin it is then.