{"id":916091,"date":"2026-10-04T18:20:11","date_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/916091\/"},"modified":"2026-10-04T18:20:11","modified_gmt":"2026-10-04T18:20:11","slug":"christian-horner-disadvantage-emerges-as-former-ferrari-boss-speaks-out","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/916091\/","title":{"rendered":"Christian Horner ‘disadvantage’ emerges as former Ferrari boss speaks out"},"content":{"rendered":"

Christian Horner boasts an impressive Formula 1 trophy cabinet, but that could actually be a \u201cdisadvantage\u201d at Ferrari<\/a> according to former team boss Maurizio Arrivabene.<\/p>\n

Horner described Ferrari as a \u201cdream\u201d in an interview which coincided with rumours of a succession plan regarding current Ferrari F1 team principal Fred Vasseur.<\/p>\n

Christian Horner to Ferrari warning from Arrivabene<\/p>\n

Horner has stated that he is looking for an owernship stake should he return to F1, though Ferrari<\/a> is the one team for which he would make an exception.<\/p>\n

Simultaneously, multiple sources told PlanetF1.com, over the Azerbaijan Grand Prix race weekend, that Ferrari is eyeing a succession plan that would include a \u2018stage-managed\u2019 exit to ease Vasseur out of his role as team principal.<\/p>\n

The rumours surrounding Vasseur\u2019s future led to Ferrari\u2019s chief communication officer Maria Conti, in a hastily-arranged press conference on Tuesday, declaring the Scuderia\u2019s continued confidence in Vasseur.<\/p>\n

Horner\u2019s Ferrari comments have sparked a response from Arrivabene, who served as Ferrari team principal between 2014-19.<\/p>\n

He stressed that the Brit is not the silver bullet to all Ferrari-related problems. His proven track record in the sport could even serve as a \u201cdisadvantage\u201d rather than a benefit.<\/p>\n

Horner established himself as one of the most successful F1 team bosses of all-time, overseeing a total of 14 world championship wins at Red Bull, where he was team boss from 2005-25.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt Ferrari, one man can\u2019t change anything,\u201d Arrivabene is quoted as having told Sky Italia.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor Horner to come to Ferrari with all the titles he\u2019s won could be more of a disadvantage than an advantage, because it would raise even greater expectations.<\/p>\n

\u201cOn top of that, they\u2019d have to start all over again.<\/p>\n

\u201cFerrari no longer has engineers of the calibre of [Simone] Resta, [Lorenzo] Sassi, [Enrico] Cardile, and [Andrea] Stella. They now work for other teams.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything has to be rebuilt. Ferrari needs calm and a leader who can work freely.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese two things can solve many problems. But it is not a single person, however successful, who can solve the problems.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIs Vasseur the right man for the job? I don\u2019t know if he has free rein or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf so, then some reflection is needed. It\u2019s crucial to give the team some peace and quiet now, and that\u2019s not easy at Ferrari.\u201d<\/p>\n

Arrivabene suggested that Ferrari has \u201cmade significant progress\u201d in F1 2026, despite now encountering a blip with no podium result since Belgium.<\/p>\n

Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have claimed a victory apiece this season in Barcelona and Silverstone respectively. The team sits P2 in the Constructors\u2019 standings.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not enough to just bring in the \u2018big man\u2019 who\u2019s already won everything. As a fan and former Ferrari employee, I say \u2013 let\u2019s not raise false expectations,\u201d Arrivabene concludes.<\/p>\n

More on Christian Horner from PlanetF1.com<\/p>\n

Ralf Schumacher tears into Christian Horner over his Ferrari \u2018dream\u2019<\/a><\/p>\n

Christian Horner reveals Ferrari is the \u2018one team\u2019 he would make an exception for<\/a><\/p>\n

However, it\u2019s thought that the Horner to Ferrari link is the result of coincidental timing, with the interview with The Times having been given some weeks prior.<\/p>\n

While speculation surrounding Vasseur\u2019s future has quietly circulated around the paddock in recent weeks, it has accelerated in the last week.<\/p>\n

Sky F1 reporter Ted Kravitz has suggested Horner\u2019s comments come as he looks to publicise his forthcoming book.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s doing a load of publicity for his book, and in that, he\u2019s given an interview to The Times newspaper. In that interview, he\u2019s essentially put a big sign on the front of his book thing, saying, \u2018Read my book, and by the way, Ferrari, I\u2019d like to be your team principal,’\u201d said Kravitz of Horner on his \u2018Ted\u2019s Notebook\u2019 show.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, having said thanks, but no thanks to Ferrari team principal in the past when he was offered it a few years ago, and then they got Fred Vasseur, he\u2019s now said that the only team that he would consider joining without equity, without taking a stake in the team, is Ferrari, because, quote, \u2018Ferrari is the dream\u2019.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, Christian Horner appears to have changed his tune somewhat, unusual for him, in that he had said before that he wasn\u2019t interested.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe now seems to be saying, as perhaps, you might say, that other opportunities have not materialised for him to come back and be a team principal, that he would indeed, after all, like to be Ferrari team principal.<\/p>\n

\u201cChristian is clearly sending a message to John Elkann [Ferrari chairman] saying, \u2018If you still want me, I am available, and keen now to be the Ferrari team principal.’\u201d<\/p>\n

While Horner has been widely linked with a possible move to Ferrari, it\u2019s thought he is not the front runner, with the marque\u2019s WEC boss, Antonello Coletta<\/a>, seemingly the preferred candidate.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher<\/p>\n

Read next: Did Leclerc accidentally disclose Ferrari secret in awkward Baku moment?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Christian Horner boasts an impressive Formula 1 trophy cabinet, but that could actually be a \u201cdisadvantage\u201d at Ferrari…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":916092,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[64,63,1199,826,818,806,805,803,804,44,85],"class_list":["post-916091","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-christian-horner","tag-ferrari","tag-home-page","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-news","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916091","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=916091"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/916091\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/916092"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=916091"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=916091"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=916091"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}