Ferrari has drawn a firm line under the rumours. Fred Vasseur keeps the team principal role. Christian Horner’s name is still circling the paddock.
Ferrari has issued an unusual public show of support for Fred Vasseur, as speculation links former Red Bull boss Christian Horner with the Scuderia. The intervention came before the Malaysian Grand Prix, after Horner described Ferrari as his dream job in an interview with The Times. He said it was the only Formula 1 team he would join as an employee, rather than pursue an ownership role. Vasseur, speaking after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, said he had the best job in the sport, while reports suggested discussions had explored how a possible departure might look at season’s end. Ferrari’s official statement aimed to shut down the leadership speculation before it crowded out attention on the race and the work ahead.
Ferrari’s statement backs Fred Vasseur amid leadership speculation
Ferrari’s chief communications officer, Maria Conti, arranged a hastily called news conference and delivered an unequivocal message: the team had full confidence in Vasseur and his group. She said Ferrari had already made its choices, and its position had not shifted. The intervention gave the team principal a public endorsement at a moment when silence from senior figures risked letting the rumours grow.
Conti also stressed that Ferrari wanted unity and focus, rather than further debate over Horner’s comments or outside assumptions about F1 team management. Asked why chief executive John Elkann and chief executive Benedetto Vigna had not made their own public statements, she said both backed Vasseur and that the company had settled its position. The team’s message was clear: its leadership is not an open vacancy.
Christian Horner’s Ferrari comments meet a firm response
Horner’s remarks gave fresh fuel to a story that had followed him since his exit from Red Bull in July 2025. He called Ferrari the only team he would consider joining without an ownership stake, placing the sport’s most famous badge at the centre of his return-to-Formula 1 talk. That is a striking preference, but it is not evidence of a deal.
Vasseur has already pushed back on the noise, describing Ferrari as the best job in the world after Baku. Yet RacingNews365 reported that sources close to the situation had heard discussions about what a departure at the end of the season could involve. That report has not been confirmed by Ferrari, whose latest statement instead reinforces the continuity around Vasseur. Earlier context on his working environment appears in this report on Vasseur’s impact at Ferrari.
Ferrari’s focus shifts back to performance and the season ahead
Ferrari wants the Malaysian weekend judged by track results, not executive gossip. Conti said the team had called the news conference to prevent speculation dominating the build-up, and directed attention towards performance, the squad and Vasseur’s leadership. That matters in a sport where each race weekend tests the chain between engineering decisions, pit-wall calls and driver execution.
For Vasseur, the endorsement settles the public question without erasing the pressure that comes with leading the Scuderia Ferrari. The team must now convert that backing into progress on circuit, while Horner’s stated interest keeps his name in the conversation. Ferrari’s evolving ambitions and its wider driver picture are explored in this look at Ferrari’s F1 priorities; for now, the official line leaves Vasseur firmly in charge.
