Vasseur fires back at Ferrari exit rumours by pointing to Horner's job hunt

Frederic Vasseur has hit back at rumours linking him to an exit from Ferrari, deflecting questions about his future by pointing to Christian Horner’s public flirtation with the team principal role at Maranello.

Speaking after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Vasseur was asked whether the constant speculation about his position was placing the team under pressure. “We are not working in perfect serenity, if that is the question,” he said, before delivering the pointed aside about Horner being the one actively seeking work.

The backdrop is a Ferrari season that promised more than it has delivered. After genuine momentum in pre-season testing and the opening rounds of the 2026 campaign, the Scuderia has drifted into mid-pack irrelevance. Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and sixth in Baku — distant from the cars ahead — and Ferrari now sits second in the constructors’ championship but well adrift of Mercedes, with McLaren and Red Bull closing in.

Hamilton’s victory in Barcelona remains the season’s solitary high point, a result that has only sharpened the frustration around subsequent underperformances at circuits where Ferrari expected to contend. Operational errors have compounded the problem: the team failed to organise a tow for both cars in qualifying at the Italian Grand Prix and repeated the mistake in Azerbaijan. Hamilton has been vocal about what he sees as a lack of internal discipline, though his criticism is coloured by a desire to keep his own championship hopes alive.

Vasseur’s contract runs until the end of 2027, and sources inside Ferrari are not believed to be behind the retirement narrative that has circulated in recent days. The rumours appear to originate from Italian media outlets and, conveniently, from Horner’s own promotional activity around a forthcoming memoir.

In an interview with The Times timed to coincide with the book’s release, Horner acknowledged that an equity stake in any team would be a condition of his return to a senior role — with one notable exception. “Would I consider Ferrari? I mean, Ferrari is the biggest brand in Formula 1. It’s the dream and arguably it’s the sleeping giant of Formula 1,” he said, adding that it is the one team for which he would waive his ownership requirement.

Horner was dismissed by Red Bull earlier this year after 21 seasons as team principal. His comments have done little to quieten the speculation swirling around Vasseur, even if the Ferrari boss appears determined not to let it derail his team’s focus.