Christian Horner clarifies Red Bull future after rumoured Ferrari approach

Christian Horner said he was “100 per cent” committed to Red Bull following rumours that Ferrari had approached him.

A report originating from Germany suggested that Ferrari had approached Horner with a view to appointing him as their new team principal however the current Red Bull boss has no interest in moving.

Christian Horner commits future to Red Bull after Ferrari link

It’s a claim PlanetF1.com understands to be accurate, however Horner remains firmly under contract with Red Bull until 2030 and has not had his head turned by offers from elsewhere.

The lure of Ferrari has been enough to tempt many over the years but it would seem one man who has no interest in moving to Maranello is Red Bull team principal and CEO Horner.

The 51-year-old, who is the longest-serving team boss on the grid, was recently linked with a move to Ferrari but insisted his focus was on Milton Keynes.

“It’s always flattering to be associated with other teams, but my commitment 100 per cent is with Red Bull,” he told media including PlanetF1.com in Barcelona.

“It always has been and certainly will be for the long term.”

Addressing the rumours directly, Horner said there was always talk but raised his lack of Italian as an issue, poking fun at Alpine boss Flavio Briatore who he was sat alongside.

“There’s a bunch of speculation about, always in this business, people coming here, going there, whatever.

“And I think people in the team know exactly what the situation is.

“I mean, my Italian is worse than Flavio’s English so how on Earth would that work?”

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Horner’s main focus now is on retaining Max Verstappen’s Drivers’ title with the Dutchman trailing both McLaren drivers but the Red Bull boss was more optimistic than his driver.

“We’ve got to make sure we keep in touch and to beat them, we’ve got to start taking points off them,” Horner said. “And so Imola was strong for us. Monaco wasn’t a strong race for us and they are the car to beat.

“They’ve got two strong drivers and the car’s performing very well. So it’s down to us to make improvements and get performance on the car over this summer part of the championship and make sure that we hang on to their coattails before the summer break and try and build a bit of momentum.”

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