Lewis Hamilton to 'walk out' if Christian Horner becomes Ferrari team principal?

Photo: © IMAGO

Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton to 'walk out' if Christian Horner becomes Ferrari team principal?

Lewis Hamilton could soon have Christian Horner as his boss

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Wednesday 7 January 2026 09:10

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Christian Horner is looking for a new job. Ferrari are one of the main teams rumoured to be interested in allowing him to return to the sport. But what would that mean for seven-time F1 world champion Lewis Hamilton?

Following a torrid 2025 season, Hamilton and Ferrari are determined to get themselves back into race-winning contention in 2026.

Wholesale regulation changes could well see them do just that, with a shake up of the competitive order potentially set to hit F1 as a result.

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Hamilton will be hoping for a more competitive car than his SF-25 from last year, while current team principal Fred Vasseur will be desperately hoping for better performance from Hamilton, given the team opted to replace Carlos Sainz for the 41-year-old Brit.

The Brit couldn't even secure a single grand prix podium in 2025, and finished a whopping 86 points behind team-mate Charles Leclerc in the same car. The poor performance from the team placed serious pressure on Vasseur's role throughout 2025.

And that noise is unlikely to go away, particularly with Horner waiting for an opportunity to get back onto the F1 grid.

Horner was axed as Red Bull team principal after 20 years back in July, and no matter what you think of the Brit, he is a man who has claimed six constructors' championships in the last 15 years.

That kind of record is bound to weigh heavy on Vasseur, particularly considering he has never won an F1 world title with a team, and Ferrari have not won a championship of any kind since 2008.

But what would a switch between Horner and Vasseur mean for Hamilton?

Hamilton to 'walk out' at Ferrari?

Mail Sport have claimed in a recent column that Hamilton would 'walk out' at Ferrari should Horner join the team as the new boss of the Maranello-based outfit.

This suggestion could be linked to the fact that Hamilton shares a very close relationship with Vasseur due to their days spent together in F2 back in 2006, or it could just be because Hamilton and Horner have not exactly seen eye to eye in recent years.

Hamilton's contract at Ferrari is rumoured to be up at the end of 2026 anyway, and so an announcement that Vasseur is being replaced might just make his decision to quit the team that bit easier.

But the seven-time champion is a fierce competitor. And whether he wants to admit it or not, he knows that having Horner as team principal would only improve his chances of one day being able to compete for a record-breaking eighth world title once more.

Hamilton knew that joining Ferrari was going to be a long-term project, and if he and the team show some real progress together in 2026, there's no reason why he wouldn't want to stick around a little longer and see where that project will take him.

And I think that'll be the case whether Vasseur, Horner or somebody else is team principal. It's going to be a crucial year for Hamilton, and his decision whether to continue in the sport post-2026 or not will rest solely on his performance.

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F1 Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Christian Horner