Ferrari shuts the door on Horner talk as Elkann backs Vasseur — and Hamilton approves
If anyone at Maranello was flirting with the idea of a Christian Horner rescue mission, John Elkann has just swiped left.
Ferrari’s chairman publicly doubled down on Fred Vasseur’s leadership, offering a firm vote of confidence at a time when the Scuderia’s form has slipped and the rumor mill — inevitably — pointed towards the ex-Red Bull boss as a potential fix. The message from the top was clear: Vasseur stays, the plan stays, and the noise can wait outside.
Speaking at the 50th Anniversary of the National Italian American Foundation in Washington, D.C., Elkann didn’t bother with ambiguity. “I want to express our full confidence in team principal Fred Vasseur and in the work he is doing together with all his colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari — the mechanics, engineers and drivers who are busy this weekend in Austin,” he said. “I would also like to reiterate the importance of teamwork on everyone’s part in order to maintain focus on the only goal that matters: always giving our best on the track.”
It’s a timely stance. After pushing hard in last year’s title fight, Ferrari came into 2025 with momentum, fresh direction under Vasseur and the arrival of Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc. But the campaign hasn’t unfolded the way many in red expected. Wins have proved stubbornly elusive and recent rounds have seen Mercedes and Red Bull step ahead as McLaren sets the benchmark. That run of form naturally triggered whispers — and a few headlines — about Horner being a target once more.
Whether Horner even wants the job is another matter entirely. After two decades in the most intense seat in the sport, fronting Red Bull’s 14 world titles across drivers’ and constructors’ championships, there’s been repeated suggestion his next move might be away from the pit wall and into ownership. Reports have also hinted he could be free to return to the paddock before the second half of 2026, should he decide the siren call is too strong to resist. But that’s hypothetical. Elkann’s endorsement of Vasseur makes it moot for now.
Inside the team, the clarity is welcome. Hamilton, who joined Ferrari for 2025 and has been vocal about the culture Vasseur is building, said the speculation around Horner wasn’t helpful. “I don’t know where the rumours have come from,” he told media in Austin, “but it’s a little bit distracting for us as a team. The team have made it clear where they stand in terms of re-signing Fred. Fred and I, and the whole team, are working really hard on the future for the team, so these things naturally aren’t helpful.”
He added that the focus remains on executing better week-to-week and turning the long meetings and long nights into a car that makes life easier in 2026. That’s an important detail: we’re months away from a rules reset that will reward cohesion and early direction. Vasseur’s value has never really been in the radio messages or the soundbites; it’s in the quieter stuff — reorganising departments, smoothing processes, aligning drivers, and making Ferrari look and feel like a modern factory team again.
Of course, the temptation to hit the eject button at Ferrari is part of its DNA. Big names have been parachuted in before with mixed results, and nothing raises pulses in Italy like the idea of a headline hire. But Elkann’s statement reads like a conscious break from that instinct. Stability over sizzle. Faith over fantasy.
That doesn’t mean the pressure disappears. It never does at Ferrari, and it certainly won’t with Hamilton and Leclerc on the books. But it does give Vasseur the oxygen he needs to finish the year without looking over his shoulder and to keep shaping the 2026 car with the kind of decisiveness you don’t get when your job title is whispered like a question.
As for Horner, if he does ever reappear, it’ll be because he chooses the fight — not because Ferrari blinked first. For now, Maranello’s made its call. And in a season where the red cars have too often chased others’ tails, calling their own shot might be the smartest move they’ve made.
