Ferrari boss Frederic Vasseur has responded to Christian Horner’s admission that Ferrari would be the only team he’d return to without an ownership stake, telling reporters that Horner is simply “looking for a job” and that the speculation around him is “frustrating.”
Ferrari has returned to winning form under Vasseur, who took over as team principal from Sauber in 2023, after a difficult 2025. The team’s title push against Mercedes has cooled off in recent months, however, following a five-race stretch without a single podium finish.
What causes the strain is what Horner said during a recent interview with The Times. When asked whether the outside noise about him and the team was bothering them, Vasseur admitted it was vexing.
“We are not working in perfect serenity,” said Vasseur. “For me, first, but for everybody in the team, for the media, for the 50 per cent of the questions about this. I think it’s a bit of a frustrating situation.”
“Mr Horner is looking for a job. Everybody knows, everywhere.”
He also added: “What can I do? I just try to do my best to push the team, to ask the team to be motivated, focus on what is better today, and not to spend time with gossips. In each interview, it will be 25 times a day.”
Horner’s track record at Red Bull
Horner led Red Bull to eight drivers’ and six constructors’ world titles during his time there. Even before he was sacked by Red Bull in July 2025, he had been intermittently linked with Ferrari over the years.
According to Sky Sports F1 pundit Jacques Villeneuve, the presence of Horner is something that should factor into a team’s thinking.
“Christian Horner is someone you have to take seriously and under consideration because he built up the winning Red Bull team,” the 1997 world champion told Sky Sports News in Baku. “He has a lot of very good and positive baggage, full of successes so you have to take that into consideration.”
Villeneuve added: “I wouldn’t say it’s scary for who is in place, but you need to be on your toes.”
Why Ferrari is a hard seat to hold
Vasseur became Ferrari’s fifth team principal in nine years when he was hired from the start of the 2023 season. He extended his contract last year and said he remains fully committed to the role as he bids to lead F1’s most-famous team back to world title-winning ways for the first time since 2008.
“For sure. The sport is my life, it’s my business,” said the 58-year-old Vasseur. “I’m trying to do my best. For sure, I’m there to do my job. I have the best job in the world.”
Villeneuve noted that Ferrari is not an easy place to be.
“Ferrari is not an easy place to be,” he said. “We have seen so many changes – two or three years, next one, because the results don’t come. So you are always on an ejectable seat and you have to be careful.”
The stakes of the speculation
The Italian constructor is locked in a battle for second place in the standings. The team’s principal has made it clear that he would prefer his drivers concentrate on racing rather than speculation.
“But it is what it is, it’s not in my hands,” he said.
He also referenced the pressure from the media.
“We are all speaking a lot about this, and even for the guys in the garage to discuss about this, it’s not the best discussion that we can have,” he said.
The Malaysian Grand Prix
The Formula 1 season travels to Malaysia for the first time since 2017, where the Bahrain Grand Prix takes place at the Sepang International Circuit. The event kicks off on Friday morning and airs live on Sky Sports F1.
Seven more races remain on the calendar, and Vasseur continues to stay dedicated.
He made the remark, “It is like it is. We still have seven races to go and we will push to the last corner,” without further elaboration.
Lewis Hamilton credited the presence of Vasseur, who he worked with in junior series, as a central reason for him joining Ferrari from Mercedes in 2025. After Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix, where his drivers finished fourth and sixth, Hamilton replied “yes” when asked by Sky Sports F1 whether the team remained on a good path forward with Vasseur at the helm.
There is no reason to expect the guessing to end soon. Vasseur’s direct answer, however, points strongly toward him not being troubled by it.
“Mr Horner is looking for a job. Everybody knows, everywhere,” he said.
That is the part worth watching.
Source material: “Vasseur responds after Horner's 'dream' Ferrari job comments,” Sky Sports.
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