Rumours that Christian Horner is heading to Ferrari are gaining traction, but is this another desperate move by a Formula 1 team looking for a messiah after its share prices plummeted?
Ferrari continues to underwhelm in 2025, with Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton publicly admitting the Scuderia cannot likely win any of the remaining six races. Both are braced for difficult ends to the season as the SF-25 performance continues to decline.
Winless seasons at Ferrari are as acceptable as painting a timeless 250 GTO a metallic purple, and then showing off a hideously modified purple interior. Both scenarios are hard to watch and utterly self-inflicted with a sense of incredulity.
F1 is a bubble, where longevity is everything. Former McLaren and Renault Team Principal Eric Boullier once said it takes years to build a successful F1 team, and just six months to destroy one. Ferrari, at present, seems to be arranging the deckchairs on the Titanic without looking at the horizon.
In the past, Ferrari’s leadership has been known to act on impulse, and now faces an urgent question. Does the team continue in its current situation, or is urgent change at the top once again needed?
John Elkann, Ferrari’s Chairman, is widely regarded as an emotional leader who acts on his hunches. Rumours are flying that he has set his sights on securing Horner’s signature for 2026.
This is all the more important in light of Ferrari’s falling share prices this week. The company’s stock plummeted to its lowest point on the New York Stock Exchange since it began trading on it in 2015.
That Fred Vasseur had his contract extended earlier this year is now inconsequential. It has as much meaning and power as a substitute teacher in a class of delinquents. Look past the rumours, and change is needed again.
Ferrari is fast becoming directionless, with rushed decisions once again resurfacing. So is the former Red Bull Racing CEO and Team Principal seen by the Scuderia’s board as a messiah and answer to their prayers, accompanied by angelic music and a halo or a devil in disguise?
A saviour with angel wings?
Ferrari’s courting of Horner first arose earlier in the year, when Horner was forced to publicly commit to Red Bull at the Spanish Grand Prix. His position remained strong, with an iron grip on the team.
But times have changed, and Horner’s immense wealth of experience could prove vital in turning around Ferrari’s ailing fortunes.
On paper, the arrival of Horner would make sense for Ferrari. The Briton took the dishevelled remains of Jaguar back in 2004 and reorganised it into the all-conquering Red Bull outfit.
Horner’s CV since 2005 is exceptional: four drivers and constructors’ titles with Sebastien Vettel between 2010 and 2013, and three drivers’ titles with Max Verstappen between 2021 to 2024, backed up by two more constructors’ titles. It is considered one of F1’s greatest outfits, and justifiably so.
Even in the gap between championships, Red Bull never failed to win a race. Until his dismissal, he held the accolade of the only Team Principal to have led an outfit since the 2005 season, some 20 years ago.
He is, without question, the most successful Team Principal of modern times, creating a behemoth of an outfit that remains a powerhouse of F1 today. His CV alone is more than enough to secure his signature at Ferrari.
Turning around the remnants of Jaguar was no small feat. It required years of preparation, placing talent in the right places, and having a long-term plan in place to clean up a procedural mess.
It took patience, vision, tactical prowess and leadership. The driver lineup of David Coulthard and Mark Webber leaned on experience exclusively, an inspired decision when building up the outfit.
2005 to 2007 were difficult formative years, with car failures and strategic errors. Yet Horner’s leadership was never questioned; he was simply left to do the job necessary to transform the team.
The combination of a technical regulation change, team experience and the arrival of Vettel for 2009 took Red Bull to the next level, where it remains. Cue the thought bubble image of Horner as an angel with heavenly music and a halo.
Devil in the detail – and in disguise?
But look closer at Horner’s record, and those angel wings quickly become horns with fire. Horner had an iron grip on Red Bull Racing because he literally was Red Bull Racing. He controlled all aspects of the team, including communications and the powertrains division.
This absolute control is key to how Horner operates. He believes one single source of accountability and strategic overview is the best way to success, and for almost 20 years, this produced results.
But in recent years, that stability has wavered, and his approach has been called into question. Absolute power is dangerous to be awarded; the biggest fear of those who have it is to lose it. Power must be consolidated, at all costs.
Inevitably, no one with absolute power keeps it indefinitely, Horner the latest example. The allegations of sexual harassment and coercive behaviour surfacing in 2024 set a ticking time bomb. The team immediately destabilised thanks to the power struggle breaking out between Red Bull’s owners for control. It is a battle that Horner was always going to lose.
His need for absolute control is likely not compatible with Ferrari’s current management style. While the team itself is free from corporate interference, the Team Principal has more than just the F1 team to consider.
Ferrari’s size makes Red Bull look like plankton compared to a blue whale. It is the most recognisable brand on the planet, with pressure to perform a worldwide demand. Horner’s need for absolute control is at odds with Ferrari’s structure; it will not be able to resist meddling.
The team needs an immense strategic overhaul, and the confidence instilled into it that it can make good decisions. Far from an overnight job, it needs careful analysis of existing procedures to expose the cause of repeat behaviour.
More importantly, it needs time for the changes to succeed, a trait not known to Elkann or Ferrari. Red Bull took half a decade to mould into a title-winning force. Elkann will want results instantly.
There are those in Ferrari who will resist change, but they will be either brought on board or shown the door. Elkann’s support in this area is critical, as media savaging the team will only intensify.
His experience in unblocking corporate-induced issues served him well when dismantling Jaguar. He could easily to the same again at Ferrari, but would face constant criticism.
Horner would likely use one of his more aggressive traits to manage this. The Briton has mastered the art of controlling the media narrative, not seen since the days of Jean Todt in Ferrari’s glory days.
2021 remains his golden achievement, marking Red Bull as perpetual victims of the FIA and race incidents. Whilst souring his public image somewhat, the impact on Red Bull is undeniable. Politically, it is untouchable.
This is the one area that could work in his favour. By changing the narrative to Ferrari being perpetual victims of race incidents, or insinuating that regulation changes were designed to slow Ferrari down, will engage the fanbase positively.
The most unlikely marriage in F1 history of driver and Team Principal
There is of course, the large elephant in the room, should Horner arrive at Maranello. Hamilton and Horner spent 2021 as bitter rivals in one of sports greatest duels.
To be working together would be a strange weave of poetic justice, but with an air of unease. The two have never reconciled over that infamous race four years ago, and Hamilton may struggle to adjust to someone he considers part of the reason why he lost the 2021 title as his boss.
But, he also may breathe a sigh of relief at the arrival of Horner, under the right contractual conditions. As a relatively new starter to Ferrari himself still, the seven-time world champion has been exposed to the obvious infighting and ineptitude that have plagued the Scuderia.
The two sitting down and Hamilton venting as if to a therapist would give Horner the knowledge of where to implement change, both now a genuinely united force. How times could change.
Time itself is a great healer. But questions of trust would remain. Hamilton will be borderline desperate to win what will likely be his final championship at Ferrari. At present, this is about as far away as Max Verstappen becoming a monk and vowing never to swear again.
Christian Horner is an obvious target for Elkann to begin the urgent changes at Ferrari, and to steady nerves over its falling share prices. But he comes with significant baggage.
Change would be needed on all sides to make the marriage work. Hamilton would need to bury the past, while any Elkann and Horner’s relationship hinges on a compromise of control and power.
If left to undertake change in process and personnel, Horner would become Ferrari’s guardian angel, held in the same high regard as Jean Todt. But if rushed, Ferrari could sink into the depths of hell itself.
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