{"id":786186,"date":"2026-09-29T09:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786186\/"},"modified":"2026-09-29T09:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T09:00:09","slug":"f1-qa-horner-and-ferrari-qatar-and-abu-dhabi-grands-prix-bottas-baku-crash-and-the-vsc-williams-upgrade","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/786186\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 Q&#038;A: Horner and Ferrari, Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix, Bottas&#8217; Baku crash and the VSC, Williams upgrade"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Mercedes&#8217; George Russell took his first victory since June by holding off Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Verstappen&#8217;s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar completed the podium on his return after missing three races with a broken wrist.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished fifth in Baku, meaning his advantage over team-mate Russell has narrowed to 66 points.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This weekend, Formula 1 heads to Malaysia, the host of the Bahrain Grand Prix &#8211; an event originally due to take place in April but which was postponed because of the war in the Middle East.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Before the race in Sepang, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson answers your latest questions.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Does Christian Horner really want the team principal job at Ferrari, or even have a shot at it? &#8211; Ben<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">This topic has become a subject for conversation in recent days following <a href=\"https:\/\/www.thetimes.com\/sport\/formula-one\/article\/christian-horner-interview-red-bull-ferrari-dream-job-fwjqq6g6b\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">an interview Horner did with the Times, external<\/a> as he promotes his new book. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Horner said: &#8220;At this stage in my life, there&#8217;s only one team for which I would accept non-participation in ownership.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Asked whether he would take a job there, he replied: &#8220;Would I consider Ferrari? I mean, Ferrari is the biggest brand in Formula 1. It&#8217;s the dream. And arguably it&#8217;s the sleeping giant of Formula 1.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur made his views about Horner&#8217;s intervention pretty plain after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when he said: &#8220;Mr Horner is looking for a job &#8211; that, everybody knows &#8211; everywhere.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Vasseur said the speculation surrounding the team meant <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/formula1\/articles\/cvwyz791096jo\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Ferrari were &#8220;not working in the perfect serenity&#8221;.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Horner&#8217;s comments seem to make it clear that he would consider a job offer from Ferrari. But the key questions are under what conditions he might accept it, and whether he would be offered it in the first place.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Horner has made it very clear over the years that he believes an F1 team needs one person in charge and in overall control.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It&#8217;s highly unlikely he would get that at Ferrari, where chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna will always have more authority than any team principal.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Even at Red Bull, where Horner had theoretical leadership at the F1 team, he was ultimately answerable to headquarters in Austria and that is what led to his removal in the end.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It&#8217;s hard to imagine how Elkann and Vigna could or would countenance any situation where they were removed from any input into the F1 team.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And it&#8217;s even harder to imagine a situation where that was not the de facto position even if a team boss had been given assurances they would be left alone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Then there is the question of whether Ferrari would want Horner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Horner comes with baggage. All of the above for a start, and on top of that there is the cloud under which <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/sport\/formula1\/articles\/cn5k6y1xyl3o\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he left Red Bull.<\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">There is no doubt that he was a remarkably successful team principal there, the team winning eight drivers&#8217; titles, six constructors&#8217; championships and 124 grands prix in his two-decade tenure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However, the team unravelled in his final 18 months in charge, in the wake of the accusations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour that were made against him by a female employee.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Red Bull dismissed those allegations after two internal investigations led by external lawyers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But they were a key factor in Adrian Newey leaving his position as chief technical officer &#8211; along with internal politics in which Newey felt his role had been diminished by Horner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Newey was followed out of the door by long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and head of strategy Will Courtenay.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Horner was finally dismissed following a slump in form which Red Bull bosses concluded the team did not appear to be capable of arresting under his leadership.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">In the Times interview, Horner says that the only justification he was given by Red Bull for his sacking was &#8220;it was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">He adds at other points in the interview: &#8220;I am a bit of a Marmite character. I know I&#8217;m not everybody&#8217;s cup of tea. It&#8217;s impossible to be.&#8221; And: &#8220;I&#8217;m the cure and the problem.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Clearly, any decision as to whether Horner is the person you want to lead your F1 team would need careful consideration.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">It&#8217;s also worth mentioning that Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has made it pretty clear over the past few years that he has little time for Horner.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Why hasn&#8217;t the FIA made a decision on the final two races of the season? They&#8217;ve cancelled the final rounds of the World Rally Championship and World Endurance Championship because of the Middle East conflict. Surely they should be confirming the changes in the calendar now? &#8211; Nigel<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">To start with a point of order, it is Formula 1 that decides the calendar &#8211; as in, the commercial rights holder &#8211; not the FIA, the governing body. The FIA&#8217;s role is effectively only to rubber-stamp F1&#8217;s decision.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">As things stand, F1 is planning to end the season as the calendar was originally scheduled &#8211; with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.formula1.com\/en\/racing\/2026\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Las Vegas followed by Qatar and then Abu Dhabi, external<\/a> over the last two weekends in November and the first in December.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Although the war continues between the US\/Israel and Iran, the advice F1 has been getting is that the situation in those two countries is stable, and there is not a high risk of attacks on civilian infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">The UK Foreign Office, for example, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/foreign-travel-advice\/united-arab-emirates\" class=\"ssrcss-1fqyhkk-InlineLink e1kn3p7n0\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">does not advise against travel to Qatar and Abu Dhabi., external<\/a> It simply says the situation there &#8220;remains unpredictable&#8221; and that &#8220;there is a risk of more attacks and unforeseen escalation in the region&#8221;.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">And the two countries consider themselves open for business.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">However, F1 has a contingency plan.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">Imola in Italy is preparing to host a race on the weekend of Abu Dhabi. <\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">If the two Middle Eastern races cannot happen as a result of an escalation of the situation in the Gulf, Imola would step in and hold the season finale on 4-6 December.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ssrcss-1q0x1qg-Paragraph e1jhz7w10\">But unless and until that happens, there is no confirmation of changes to make, as there are currently no changes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Mercedes&#8217; George Russell took his first victory since June by holding off Max Verstappen to win the Azerbaijan&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786187,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[59,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-786186","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports","tag-gb","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786186","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786186"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786186\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786187"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786186"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786186"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786186"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}