Could Christian Horner’s F1 comeback really be with Ferrari?

Christian Horner’s F1 future is yet to be decided, but will the former Red Bull man find a new home at Ferrari?

Horner has been the subject of much speculation in recent weeks, including continual rumours that he could yet replace Frederic Vasseur as team boss at the Scuderia.

Christian Horner linked with Ferrari switch

Recently, Horner’s complete exit from Red Bull was confirmed by his former team, months on from his exit from operational duties as CEO and team principal.

Following the British Grand Prix, Horner was stood down as Red Bull GmbH’s Oliver Mintzlaff opted for change at the team, dropping Laurent Mekies into the positions vacated by Horner.

Shortly after, Red Bull removed Horner as a director of all its F1-related companies, and weeks later, confirmed an exit agreement had been reached that severed all ties between the company and Horner, who delivered eight Drivers’ Championships and six Constructors’ Championship titles during his 20-year tenure in charge.

The exact details of the arrangement reached have not been confirmed, although PlanetF1.com understands that Horner will pocket a sum of around $100 million (£74.2 million) and be free to return to the F1 grid by the middle of 2026.

It’s where Horner might turn up that has set tongues wagging ever since, and recent speculation has suggested it could well be Ferrari that the British executive could turn to, with some speculative reports suggesting that Ferrari chairman John Elkann is regretting the decision to continue with Frederic Vasseur – the French team boss having recently signed a new three-year deal to remain in charge at the Scuderia.

There’s no doubt that Vasseur is facing some pressure to deliver when the new F1 regulations kick in in 2026, having seen his team take a step backward in competitiveness this year despite the arrival of seven-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton alongside Charles Leclerc.

Horner is known to have previously engaged in talks with Ferrari, but his ongoing loyalty to Red Bull meant a move was never a serious consideration; something that could be vastly different nowadays, if an approach from Ferrari is genuine. Certainly, the time period for when Horner might be available for an F1 return does roughly correspond with Ferrari getting some insight into whether Vasseur’s leadership into the new regulation cycle has succeeded.

However, the speculation is understood to be largely wide of the mark. Horner is not thought to be actively pursuing a return to a front-line position as a team principal, and no longer has any interest in sitting on the pitwall, having done so for two decades in his role at Red Bull.

Horner’s time at Red Bull is also believed to have come to an end as a result of a fundamental disagreement regarding overall control of the team, with he and Mintzlaff at odds; Horner wished to keep control of the team under his watch at Milton Keynes, with Mintzlaff and Horner’s fellow team director Helmut Marko desiring greater control for the parent company in Austria.

With Mintzlaff winning this particular argument, Horner’s desire to oversee an F1 team is seemingly at odds with Ferrari’s ethos. In recent years, the team principal has proven to be a relatively disposable figurehead representing the organisation as a whole, with Vasseur thus a break from this pattern after his contract extension that should take him to, at least, six seasons in charge.

Ferrari, just over two months ago, reaffirmed its faith in Vasseur, working out a three-year contract extension with the Frenchman. Vasseur will thus match the length of tenures reached by predecessors Mattia Binotto and Maurizio Arrivabene, both of whom managed four years before being replaced over the last decade.

Aside from overall command of the F1 team, Horner is also believed to be prioritising a shareholding or ownership position at his next post – something he is highly unlikely to get at the Scuderia, which is predominantly publicly owned (68.19 percent) with the remainder split between Exor N.V. (21.20 percent) and Piero Ferrari (10.61 percent).

Given that Horner’s focus for an F1 comeback is on a role of even greater responsibility and, ideally, equity than he had at Red Bull, and Ferrari’s unlikelihood of relinquishing the extent of control Horner needs, simply slotting in as the latest in a long list of team bosses at Ferrari makes little sense for either side.

Where else of the current teams might Christian Horner turn up?

“It looks as though Christian’s ringing up pretty much every team owner at the moment,” was Aston Martin’s Andy Cowell’s response when asked about Horner’s potential future involvement at the Silverstone-based squad.

During the Singapore GP weekend, following on from his release from Red Bull, Horner was a prevailing topic for the current raft of team bosses, not all of whom might be thrilled about the availability of someone with a proven pedigree behind him on the open market, even if those concerns might be misplaced, given that Horner is thought to be seeking a role above that of a team principal.

For those without direct input on the ownership of a team, there’s also the possibility that some of the current team bosses may not be fully aware of potential conversations between Horner and a team’s owners.

Of the 11 teams on the grid in 2026, Horner has been most strongly linked with Aston Martin, Alpine, and Haas.

Having been unable to officially rule a potential move for Horner out of the running during his media session on Thursday in Singapore, Cowell had consulted with team owner Lawrence Stroll by the time he spoke to the media in the FIA Press Conference on Friday and appeared to shut down all avenues for a potential link-up by saying, “I can clearly say there are no plans for involvement of Christian either in an operational or investment role in the future.”

As for Haas, team boss Ayao Komatsu confirmed on Thursday that an “exploratory” talk with Horner did take place; however, it’s understood this meeting was with a representative of Gene Haas, and was set up by an intermediary between Horner and said representative, rather than being a direct approach.

Regardless, Haas’s ownership of the team remains resolute, and there remains zero interest from the American businessman in selling up; whether that be the team, or even a minor shareholding.

“I don’t know everything, but in the last 18 months, he’s had numerous offers to buy the team,” Komatsu said at Silverstone earlier this summer, speaking about other interested parties.

“He’s not interested. He really enjoys being the owner of the F1 team. Currently, one out of 10, from next year, one out of 11. That’s such a privileged position to be in.

“He’s not interested in selling at all. I can tell you, recently I had some people really pushing to buy it – not interested. He even got annoyed that these guys are asking so many times.”

This position is understood to remain unchanged.

As for Alpine, the team’s de facto boss, Flavio Briatore, is close friends with Horner, but, according to new managing director Steve Nielsen, that’s as far as things go… for now.

“As far as I know, no,” he said when asked if Horner has approached Alpine.

“But Flavio and Christian are old friends, that’s no secret. What they’ve talked about, I don’t know.

“But everything I see and everything I know, there’s no truth in Christian coming to Alpine—but that doesn’t mean it won’t happen. This is Formula 1 after all.”

Groupe Renault, under new CEO Francoise Provost, has firmly stated its commitment to remaining in F1, suggesting that a further divestment of its shares – as has happened in recent years with the arrival of Otro Capital when the investment company purchased 24 percent in 2023 – isn’t on the horizon.

When and where will Christian Horner reappear in F1?

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What is likely to be next for Christian Horner?

With Horner’s focus remaining on a comeback in an ownership or shareholding position above that of a team principal, arriving at a current team in the near future could remain out of reach for the time being, given the lack of opportunities currently available to buy in.

But Horner is understood to have pulled together significant investment for when an opportunity does arise, with sufficient backing to purchase most of the teams on the current grid outright, if circumstances change for any of them.

What does appear more likely at this point is that Horner may need to continue exploring the opportunity of establishing his own team, with PlanetF1.com recently revealing that Horner may have already held talks with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali to discuss the feasibility of getting a new team onto the grid in the coming years.

Horner does have experience in establishing a racing team, having set up Arden with his father, Gary, in the 1990s, which led to his initial venture into the Red Bull operation a few years later. Arden has raced in almost every junior category of single-seaters and has won multiple championships over its 28 years of competition.

However, setting up an F1 team in the 2020s represents a vastly different challenge, particularly financially, but his nous on the commercial front may prove invaluable when it comes to pulling together the investment required – a task that could be made easier given the availability of fellow commercial marketing and communications heads from Red Bull, who were released from the team at the same time as him.

But, at this point, it can’t be said that any options are firmly off the table. While Horner may have a clear desire, and the financial backing, to be able to lay out priorities for his return, there’s no reason to believe that being away from the coalface for an extended period, or receiving a particularly attractive offer, won’t mean those priorities change in time.

All that does seem certain is that, despite being in a position to be able to leave F1 behind for good, Horner’s hunger for competition remains unabated and, having had his career put on pause in ignominious fashion, who would bet against him succeeding once again when a path back is found?

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