Guenther Steiner explains why he thinks Christian Horner would ‘struggle’ in charge of Ferrari

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Christian Horner has been linked with joining Ferrari after his Red Bull exit, but former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner has shared why he believes that might not be a good idea.

Red Bull parted ways with Christian Horner after more than two decades working together following this season’s British Grand Prix.

Laurent Mekies was named as Horner’s successor, and that coincided with a run of results that could earn Max Verstappen an unlikely fifth drivers’ championship.

Mekies is learning that Horner was right about McLaren all along, as their drivers struggle to maintain their advantage over Verstappen going into the final five races of the campaign.

Ferrari have been watching this title battle go on from afar, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton yet to win a Grand Prix in 2025.

Team principal Fred Vasseur has been feeling the pressure this season, despite being handed a new contract by chairman John Elkann.

That hasn’t stopped Horner from being linked with Ferrari, but Guenther Steiner has explained why he believes that if the 51-year-old did join Formula 1’s most iconic team, he would ‘struggle’ to make them a success.

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Guenther Steiner explains why Christian Horner would ‘struggle’ in charge of Ferrari

Steiner was asked on The Red Flags Podcast if he had any insight into Horner having conversations with Ferrari, and he said: “I don’t have any insight, but my good guess is, I mean, Christian would struggle like anybody else at Ferrari.

“It’s a difficult place, but for Christian to go to Ferrari, I mean, Ferrari as we all know always expects miracles, but they take a little bit longer, and they don’t give anybody enough time.

“I think at the moment, they understood that. I think John Elkann understood that, therefore, they extended Fred’s contract as Fred needs a little bit more time to fix it or at least until next year when the new rules come out.

“And if the car is good, I think everything will be fine. If the car is not good, I don’t know what is happening then, and I don’t think they know what is happening then.

“But at the moment, I don’t think Christian will go to Ferrari, or Ferrari will not go after Christian at the moment.

“You never know what’s happening in a year, but at the moment. I think it’s not happening.”

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

The Ferrari battle between Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton is heating up

One of the challenges that anyone who replaces Vasseur would have to face is managing the battle between Leclerc and Hamilton.

Leclerc currently leads his new teammate by 50 points in the drivers’ championship, but the pair have been far more closely matched in recent races.

Hamilton overtook Leclerc during the Sprint Race at the United States Grand Prix to finish fourth, but it was the Monegasque driver who came out on top during Sunday’s race.

Leclerc held off Lando Norris brilliantly for more than 20 laps, but couldn’t cling onto second place, with Hamilton once again having to settle for P4.

Martin Brundle believes Ferrari would have been uncomfortable with Leclerc and Hamilton fighting on track, something that Vasseur will need to closely monitor, especially if they start racing for wins.

Horner doesn’t have the best relationship with Hamilton, and stepping into a team with infamously tricky internal politics would only make a difficult situation even more volatile.