Vasseur hints Elkann’s vote of confidence was aimed at the rumor mill, not Maranello
Ferrari didn’t just back Fred Vasseur last weekend — it backed him loudly, and in public. But if you ask the team principal, John Elkann’s carefully worded show of support in Washington wasn’t meant for the guys in red. It was sent down the pit lane.
After a fresh round of whispers that Ferrari had reopened conversations with Christian Horner, Elkann used a gala appearance at the National Italian American Foundation’s 50th anniversary to reiterate “full confidence” in Vasseur and remind everyone that the only objective is performance on track. The timing was no accident: the United States Grand Prix weekend, a noisy paddock, and a rumor that just refuses to die.
Vasseur, speaking after the race in Austin, welcomed the message — and then gave away the subtext. “For everybody it’s good to have this kind of message,” he said. “But as we have a permanent contact, we already had the message. That was more for the third party and external target.”
Translation: inside Ferrari, nothing’s changed. Outside Ferrari, please move along.
This is the latest chapter in a saga that’s rumbled since the spring, when a stuttering start to 2025 left Vasseur under pressure and the gossip pages busy. Names were floated. Horner’s, of course. Even Antonello Coletta, the architect of Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship success, found himself linked with the F1 hot seat before reports in Italy suggested he’d already declined the job once.
Ferrari tried to slam the door on it all before the summer, announcing a new multi-year deal for Vasseur ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix. But more missed opportunities after the break saw the speculation switch back on — and Horner’s name boomerang right back into the conversation.
That’s where Elkann stepped in. The chairman’s message was as much about steadying the boat in Maranello as it was about starving the rumor of oxygen. Vasseur admitted as much, adding that hearing the chairman publicly end the chatter allowed the team to “stop the discussion” and get back to work without fielding the same question on every grid walk.
As for Horner, the road to Ferrari still looks like a non-starter. The former Red Bull boss officially walked away from Milton Keynes last month under a nine-figure settlement. The understanding in the paddock is that any comeback would only be possible sometime during 2026 — and even then, Horner’s eye is on something with equity and control attached, more Toto Wolff than traditional team principal.
That’s a problem at Ferrari, where ownership isn’t something you’re offered with the job title. The company is majority publicly traded, with Exor and Piero Ferrari holding the rest. There’s no slice of the Scuderia to carve off, no board seat to wrap into the contract. Beyond that, Ferrari’s history of cycling through bosses — six during Horner’s 20 years at Red Bull — isn’t exactly an advert for long-term comfort.
None of this is to say Horner won’t resurface. He almost certainly will, and you can bet the phones will keep ringing. Just don’t expect those calls to be coming from the Prancing Horse. Ferrari’s made its choice, twice now: first with a renewal for Vasseur, then with a very public backing when the noise kicked up again.
Where does that leave Maranello? With a chairman on message, a team principal secure in his mandate, and a car that still needs polishing if the second half of 2025 is going to be more than damage limitation. The rest — the whispers, the “what ifs,” the ever-present specter of Horner — feels like background chatter. Exactly where Elkann intended it to be.
