‘Full confidence’: Ferrari responds to Vasseur-Horner speculation

Ferrari has suddenly moved to shut down speculation surrounding Fred Vasseur’s future, insisting the Frenchman retains its “full confidence” despite a fresh wave of rumours linking Christian Horner with the Scuderia.

The timing was hard to miss. Just days after Horner described Ferrari as his “dream job” and suggested it was the only team on the grid he would consider joining purely as an employee, Ferrari called on Tuesday an unexpected press conference ahead of this weekend’s Malaysian Grand Prix.

Rather than allowing the whispers to swirl into the race weekend, the Scuderia chose to confront them head-on – while making it equally clear that it has no intention of turning the Horner story into a running saga.

Ferrari draws a line under Horner speculation

Ferrari’s chief communications officer Maria Conti delivered an unusually emphatic defence of the current leadership structure, making clear that Vasseur remains firmly backed by the company.

"In recent days, there has been increasing speculation surrounding Ferrari and particularly dedicated to its leadership," Ferrari's chief communications officer, Maria Conti said.

"Ferrari's position is clear, has not changed, and Ferrari has made its choices already, and we have confidence, full confidence, in Fred Vasseur and in his team, and we continue to do so.

"At this time and in this particular moment, it's really important that the team remains united and cohesive, and we are focused all the energy, on the work ahead, Ferrari has always attracted extraordinary interest, and it is only natural that many professionals aspire to be part of it.

"It is a reflection of the strength of what Ferrari really represents. So this is why we really want to avoid, and we do not intend to fuel speculation or comment on assumption coming from outside the company, and is not just related to the story in The Times of Mr. Horner, but in general there is a lot of speculation about that.

"So again, we have confidence in Fred Vasseur and in his team, and we continue to do so."

The message was difficult to misinterpret. Ferrari is aware of the noise, knows where the speculation is coming from and, for now at least, wants the conversation moved firmly back towards its existing management team.

• Read also: Horner fires up Ferrari speculation: ‘It’s the dream’

That makes Horner’s comments particularly awkward. The former Red Bull boss left the team in July 2025 and has since made no secret of his desire to find a route back into F1, ideally with an ownership stake.

His description of Ferrari as his preferred destination has inevitably added fuel to rumours that were already circulating.

‘Made its choices’

Conti went further, stressing that Vasseur’s backing was not some hastily assembled response to the latest headlines.

"And the position is clear, not just now,” she added. “We have already confirmed in the past. Our focus now is on the work. We would like, of course, to be focused on the future, and this is always the Ferrari spirit and the spirit of our founder: humility and complete focus on the future.

"We are doing that today, on Tuesday, 29th September, because we would like to avoid that in the next weekend in Malaysia being occupied only with this kind of gossip and speculation, but we would like to be focused on the race, on the performance, on the team, on Fred, and of course the leadership is taking to bring ahead the Scuderia Ferrari HP."

Asked directly why Ferrari CEO John Elkann and CEO Benedetto Vigna had not personally issued public statements backing Vasseur, Conti said both men had confidence in the team principal.

She also reiterated that Ferrari had already “made its choices” – a pointed reference to Vasseur’s position.

For now, then, Ferrari’s answer to the Vasseur-Horner intrigue is unequivocal: the speculation may be getting louder, but the Scuderia insists its leadership decision has already been made.

Its attention, it says, is now on Vasseur, the SF-26 and the performance it can produce in Malaysia.

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