Ferrari has officially backed team principal Frédéric Vasseur following escalating speculation over a potential move by former Red Bull leader Christian Horner to take charge of the Italian team. The decision came during an unscheduled virtual briefing arranged to calm internal tensions as the squad deals with a five-race podium drought and a 160-point deficit to Mercedes in the championship standings.
Maria Conti, chief communication officer at Ferrari, convened selected media outlets on Tuesday (29) to deliver a direct message on behalf of company chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna. Conti stated that Ferrari’s position is clear, has not changed, and Ferrari has made its choices already, adding that the organization maintains full confidence in Vasseur and his engineering group.
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Emergency media briefing halts Christian Horner speculation
The unusual media intervention came in response to comments made by Christian Horner during an interview with British newspaper The Times on September 25, 2026. Horner, who was dismissed from Red Bull Racing in July 2025 after spending 21 years on the Formula 1 pit wall, suggested that Ferrari represents the only project where he would consider working without holding equity shares, describing the Maranello operation as the sleeping giant of Formula 1 while promoting his upcoming autobiography Drive.
Those public remarks caused immediate frustration inside the Scuderia, prompting Vasseur to push back during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend. The French manager noted that Horner has been actively seeking employment across multiple paddocks and pointed out that spending half of team press conferences fielding questions about management changes created an unwelcome distraction for engineers, mechanics, and drivers.
Constructors standings and key campaign metrics for Ferrari
Ferrari remains second in the World Constructors Championship despite a prolonged performance dip following the European summer break. The squad has not secured a grand prix victory since Charles Leclerc won the British Grand Prix earlier in the 2026 campaign.
- Current gap to championship leader Mercedes: 160 points
- Consecutive races without a podium appearance: 5 rounds
- Tenure of Christian Horner on the Formula 1 pit wall prior to exit: 21 years
- Contract extension timeline for Frédéric Vasseur: signed in 2025 under a multi-year agreement
- Red Bull departure date for Christian Horner: July 1, 2025
Driver lineup stability and paddock dynamics in Maranello
The pressure on Vasseur had intensified following Italian press reports suggesting friction between the team boss and seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, who drives alongside Charles Leclerc. Italian daily Corriere della Sera reported that Hamilton had requested adjustments to technical personnel within the garage, an assertion that the team has not officially verified and that Hamilton himself publicly dismissed by reaffirming his trust in Vasseur’s leadership.
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Vasseur initially took over leadership duties at Maranello at the start of 2023, replacing Mattia Binotto, before signing a multi-year contract renewal in 2025. Paddock sources confirmed that senior executives at Ferrari held no preliminary discussions, job interviews, or formal negotiations with Horner regarding any management vacancy, rendering external speculation groundless at board level.
Ferrari now focuses on track operations as staff travel to the upcoming Malaysian Grand Prix, where the team aims to halt its podium drought and prevent further distraction across the race weekend.