Ferrari boss Vasseur frustrated with speculation about future amid Horner links
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Fred Vasseur joined as Ferrari team principal in January 2023.
PHOTO: REUTERS
- Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur is frustrated by ongoing speculation about Christian Horner potentially joining Ferrari, which distracts the team and media.
- Christian Horner, former Red Bull principal with multiple championships, has expressed Ferrari as his only preferred team without ownership.
- Ferrari, with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc, has not won a title since 2008 and is currently second behind Mercedes amid rising competition.
AI generated
BAKU, Azerbaijan – Ferrari team boss Fred Vasseur described the speculation surrounding his future as frustrating after former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner’s comments in an interview fuelled talk of a potential move for the Briton to the Italian team.
Horner, who was ousted from Red Bull in July 2025, told the Times in an interview published last week that Ferrari would be the only team he would consider joining without an ownership stake on offer.
He went on to describe the team as the “dream” and “the sleeping giant of Formula 1”.
“We are not working in the perfect serenity,” said Vasseur, who joined as Ferrari team principal in January 2023, after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sept 26.
“For me, firstly, but for everybody in the team, for the media, for 50 per cent of the questions (to be) about this, I think it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.”
Horner, who returned to the F1 paddock at the British Grand Prix a year after his 2025 sacking, ran Red Bull for 20 years.
He led the team to eight drivers’ world championships – four with Sebastian Vettel and four with Max Verstappen – and six constructors’ titles.
The 52-year-old, married to Spice Girls singer Geri Halliwell, was also in the headlines in 2024 after a female employee accused him of inappropriate behaviour, of which he was cleared after an investigation.
Speculation of a return has continued to bubble away since Horner’s ousting, with the Briton linked most notably with Renault-owned Alpine and Silverstone-based Aston Martin.
Ferrari, the sport’s oldest and most successful team, who in 2025 signed seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc, have not won a title since 2008 when they were crowned constructors’ champions.
Kimi Raikkonen remains the last driver to win the drivers’ championship for the team in 2007.
The Maranello-based outfit has won two races in 2026, one apiece for Hamilton and Leclerc, and are second in the overall standings behind dominant Mercedes.
But their form has faded with McLaren and Red Bull resurgent.
“Mr Horner is looking for a job – that everybody knows – everywhere,” said Vasseur.
“But what can I do? Just try to do my best to push the team, to rise them to be motivated, focus on what is better today.” REUTERS