Christian Horner, the former Red Bull Racing Team Principal, is at the centre of sensational rumours linking him to a possible return to Formula 1 with Ferrari.
The speculation comes just over three months after Horner’s dramatic dismissal from Red Bull on Wednesday, July 9, 2025, which ended his 20-year tenure at the Milton Keynes-based team.
Now, the proven winner is actively seeking a new role, and the struggling Italian giants are reportedly ready to woo him back to the paddock.
Reports from top outlets indicate that Ferrari President John Elkann is "wooing" Horner following the Scuderia's disastrous 2025 season, which has yielded zero Grand Prix victories despite the high-profile arrival of Lewis Hamilton.
The Fred Vasseur contradiction and Max Verstappen threat
The key focus of this article is the contradictory nature of the rumours and the bombshell driver speculation.
The timing of the talks is surprising, given that current Team Principal Fred Vasseur signed a multi-year contract extension in July.
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However, the team’s ongoing poor performance has put Vasseur's position under relentless scrutiny, with Elkann reportedly losing faith in his leadership.
The biggest bombshell accompanying the rumours is the suggestion that Christian Horner's arrival could immediately lead to him attempting to sign his former star driver, Max Verstappen.
Such a move would almost certainly come at the expense of Lewis Hamilton, who has struggled since joining the Scuderia at the start of the 2025 season.
This potential dynamic between the two figures, who share a famously frosty relationship, makes the prospective hiring of Horner a high-stakes gamble.
Horner's defiance and return timeline
Horner is a proven winner, having led Red Bull to eight Constructors’ Championships and overseeing four world titles each for Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.
He is now free to pursue a new role after agreeing a considerable severance package with his former team, which allows him to return to F1 in 2026.
Despite his track record, Horner previously dodged direct questions about joining the Italian squad, joking about the language barrier, stating, “My Italian is worse than Flavio [Briatore]’s English, so how on earth would that work?”
The logistical and cultural challenges of moving his family to Maranello remain a factor, but the prospect of ending Ferrari's championship drought is a lure that may be too strong to ignore.