Inside Story: Ferrari’s Bold Move to Recruit Christian Horner

May 27 – Ferrari looked into poaching Red Bull’s long-time team boss Christian Horner just a few weeks ago, according to the largest-circulation newspaper in Europe.

“This is no surprise,” Bild newspaper correspondents Michel Milewski and Matthias Marburg reported, “given that the storied racing team is in crisis.”

They are talking about Ferrari, under current team boss Frederic Vasseur’s reign, rather than Red Bull – where Horner only narrowly survived a scandal and leadership crisis in 2024.

Ferrari, however, headed into this season with high hopes, given the arrival of seven time world champion Lewis Hamilton. But it’s not just the 40-year-old Briton that has struggled, but also Ferrari’s 2025 car.

Charles Leclerc, however, finished a promising P2 in Monaco, having also qualified just behind the pole sitter. Nonetheless, Vasseur admitted: “My expectations for the season haven’t changed with the weekend in Monaco.

“I think we didn’t have the best first part of the championship, although we’re already a third of the way through. We performed worse than expected. That’s very clear,” said the Frenchman.

“We have to be honest with ourselves.”

Luigi Perna, an influential Italian journalist, wrote in La Gazzetta dello Sport that Barcelona this weekend – where the latest flexible front wing era will end – will be “decisive” for how Ferrari handles the rest of the season.

“If the scenario doesn’t change there,” he said, “Ferrari will be better off diverting all its efforts to 2026.

“Vasseur is at a crossroads. He has not hidden his confidence in the fact that the new rules can change the hierarchies on the field.”

Vasseur’s superiors at Maranello have made no noises of discontent with the 56-year-old since he replaced Mattia Binotto in early 2022. Bild newspaper, however, insists that behind-the-scenes rumblings tell a different story.

“According to Bild, the Scuderia casually inquired with Horner a few weeks ago,” the newspaper’s F1 journalists wrote. “Although Charles Leclerc managed to finish second in Monaco, the team’s performance fluctuations have been massive.

“It’s a fact that doesn’t make the company’s bosses around John Elkann happy, and at least makes them ponder the continued employment of Fred Vasseur.”

The bad news for Ferrari, Bild added, is that Horner “doesn’t want to and won’t leave Red Bull.

“The Briton can’t imagine working for any other team. This is consistent with the fact that he already turned down a Ferrari offer several years ago.”

✅ Check out more posts with related topics: