Christian Horner has one ‘obvious’ concern about joining Ferrari after contact with senior figure

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Ferrari chairman John Elkann has been forced to publicly support team principal Fred Vasseur as speculation continued to grow surrounding a potential move to hire Christian Horner.

John Elkann stated in a press conference that he had ‘full confidence’ in Fred Vasseur despite a tricky 2025 Formula 1 campaign for Ferrari.

Ferrari are still searching for their first Grand Prix victory, and with six races remaining, Lewis Hamilton is already mathematically out of contention to win the drivers’ championship.

Charles Leclerc will soon join Hamilton on that list of drivers unless something extraordinary happens during the United States Grand Prix.

Ferrari last won a championship in 2008, and Vasseur knows that while he’s just signed a new contract, he won’t be granted a huge amount of time to deliver a much-coveted title.

This is where former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner enters the equation.

Horner has been linked with Ferrari despite not making any public statement on his future intentions after splitting with the Anglo-Austrian team.

It appears as though a move to bring Horner in isn’t imminent and is likely to stall over one crucial issue despite contact having been made.

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Christian Horner sees not speaking Italian as an ‘obvious’ issue amid Ferrari links

A report from The Times has shared more details regarding Horner and Ferrari.

The 51-year-old has been linked with the likes of Alpine and Haas since Horner agreed on a severance package with Red Bull.

Horner held talks with Elkann back in 2022, but no move ever materialised, especially as Red Bull were in the midst of a dominant period with Max Verstappen winning the second of his four drivers’ championships.

While there are ‘admirers of Horner’ within Ferrari, ‘official talks’ have not yet taken place.

The Race believe that Horner has been in contact with a ‘senior representative’ from the team, but ‘no discussions over a role at Maranello’ have happened at this stage.

They also go on to say that the former Red Bull boss has no interest in becoming Ferrari team principal, instead seeking a more senior role if and when he returns to Formula 1.

The Times believe that before Horner was sacked by Red Bull, he had already flagged with Ferrari the ‘obvious’ issue that he doesn’t speak Italian, and these concerns haven’t disappeared.

Vasseur is also dealing with not speaking Italian, something that has plagued several senior figures during Ferrari’s history.

Horner wouldn’t be available at the beginning of 2026 due to his gardening leave anyway, meaning he would be taking over midway through Ferrari’s latest project, which wouldn’t make life easy for either party.

READ MORE: All you need to know about Scuderia Ferrari from team principal to factory

Fred Vasseur says Ferrari were ‘on the back foot’ during United States Grand Prix qualifying

Vasseur will know that the best way to quieten rumours of Horner or anyone else coming into the team are by improving performances on the track.

Sunday’s race gives Ferrari the perfect opportunity to score a decent haul of points, with Leclerc and Hamilton starting third and fifth.

Speaking in his official post-qualifying media session, Vasseur said: “Our pace was strong from the beginning of Q1, and we were always in the top four.

“Then on the first timed lap in Q3, Lewis went straight on at turn one and Charles spun, so they were P9 and P10, and we were a bit on the back foot.

“But in the end, they were able to put their laps together, even if it was not the best one of the day.

“Now, as always, we will focus on ourselves and see what we can do tomorrow. As for the Sprint Race, we picked up some points, and we hope to add to that total tomorrow.”