Does Christian Horner have a realistic chance of the Ferrari team principal role?
Christian Horner, who served as Red Bull Racing's team principal from 2005 to 2025, told the Times that he would consider a role at Ferrari, a position discussed in a BBC F1 Q&A published on 29 September 2026; Ferrari principal Frederic Vasseur reacted after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix by saying, "Mr Horner is looking for a job - that, everybody knows - everywhere." The exchange follows Horner's recent book promotion and an interview in which he called Ferrari "the biggest brand in Formula 1" and "the dream."
Horner's record at Red Bull includes eight drivers' titles, six constructors' championships and 124 grand prix victories, but his departure came amid allegations of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour made by a female employee; Red Bull dismissed those allegations after two internal investigations led by external lawyers. Adrian Newey left his role as chief technical officer during the subsequent period of internal change, followed by sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and head of strategy Will Courtenay, and Horner was dismissed after a slump in team form.
Horner has long argued that an F1 team needs a single person in overall control, but the BBC article says it is "highly unlikely" he would obtain that level of autonomy at Ferrari, where chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna "will always have more authority than any team principal." The piece adds it is hard to envisage Elkann and Vigna accepting a situation in which they had no input into the F1 team.
The article also sets out obstacles to Ferrari hiring Horner beyond internal structure, noting the "cloud" that hung over his exit from Red Bull and the personnel departures that followed. Horner's account of his sacking is quoted: "it was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing," and he adds, "I am a bit of a Marmite character. I know I'm not everybody's cup of tea. It's impossible to be." He further says, "I'm the cure and the problem." The Q&A also notes that Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton "has made it pretty clear over the past few years that he has little time for Horner."
On the calendar, the article clarifies that Formula 1, not the FIA, decides the race schedule, with the FIA's role described as rubber-stamping F1's decisions. At present, F1 is planning to finish the season as originally scheduled, with Las Vegas followed by Qatar and then Abu Dhabi over the last two weekends in November and the first in December, and the BBC reports the advice F1 has received is that the situation in those two Middle Eastern countries is stable. The UK Foreign Office is quoted as saying the situation there "remains unpredictable" and that "there is a risk of more attacks and unforeseen escalation in the region," and Imola is preparing as a contingency to host the season finale on 4-6 December if the Gulf races cannot take place.
Addressing race control decisions in Baku, the Q&A recounts that Valtteri Bottas crashed at Turn 15 on the penultimate lap with leaders George Russell and Max Verstappen separated by less than a second; the FIA said race control "determined that it was safe to let the leaders race to the line - they were able to cut the apex at T15, as it's a relatively slow corner" and that the incident was "successfully managed by localised double yellows." Russell described a temporary power loss: "I lifted off the power and when I went back, I had no turbo, so then I had no power," adding, "Max almost got me at the line." The Q&A notes Russell used all his battery on the run to the flag and held on by less than 0.2 seconds.
On team upgrades, BBC F1 correspondent Andrew Benson explains Williams brought a lighter chassis and aerodynamic changes to Baku that produced their best qualifying performance of the year in terms of positions, although they were slightly closer to the front in percentage terms in Miami; Benson cautions it is too early to judge the upgrade and points out Williams expected Baku to suit their car because short-duration corners and long straights play to its strengths, while they struggle in long-duration corners such as those in Sepang. The piece contrasts Aston Martin's aerodynamic upgrade in Hungary, which Benson says improved their chassis performance "by in the region of two seconds a lap," and led to improved results in Hungary and Zandvoort where "Fernando Alonso drove superbly to take two points for ninth place," but adds the Honda engine remains the worst on the grid "in terms of overall power, driveability and energy management," which hurt Aston Martin on engine-dependent circuits such as Monza and Baku.
Formula 1 moves to Malaysia this weekend, with the Bahrain Grand Prix being hosted at Sepang after its original April date was postponed because of the war in the Middle East; the BBC lists live commentary and text coverage arrangements for the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia and invites readers to send questions for the F1 correspondent.