Christian Horner Ferrari plan revealed with F1 return still pending

Christian Horner

Christian Horner Ferrari plan revealed with F1 return still pending

Ecclestone told Horner to join Ferrari

Graham Shaw Consultant Editor

Digital sports specialist running global brands for 30 years

Tuesday 30 June 2026 08:25

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Former F1 supremo Bernie Ecclestone admits he tried to persuade Christian Horner to join Ferrari after his exit from Red Bull.

The 52-year-old Englishman has been out of the sport since being sacked last July after a tumultuous start to the 2025 season.

Horner's shock dismissal came after two decades at Red Bull which saw him usher in a period of glorious success with eight World Drivers' Championship titles and six Constructors' crowns.

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Since that exit Horner has been linked with a number of potential landing spots, but the 95-year-old Ecclestone says he advocated for a move to Maranello.

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Ecclestone told Horner to push for Ferrari move

Speaking to RacingNews365 at the Austrian Grand Prix, revealed: “I speak to him quite a bit.

"Early on, I was trying to convince him to try and be at Ferrari.”

Instead of pursuing Horner, Ferrari signed current team principal to a contract extension and now the door appears to be closed at F1's most glamorous team.

Ferrari signed Fred Vasseur to a contract extension.

Ecclestone believes Horner will not find things easy when he does eventually return to F1, regardless of his destination. He believes every result moving forward will be judged against those Red Bull glory days of years gone by.

“Christian's in a difficult position anyway. Wherever he goes, if he doesn't succeed, people will say, 'Ah, Christian, you were very good when you were with Red Bull with big budgets' and things like that.

'Now you're not winning because of that' or something.' So it's difficult for him.”

Will Horner return to F1?

There appear to be limited potential destinations for Horner right now, particularly given his desire to have a role bigger than team principal in is next F1 job.

Horner has spoken openly about his wish to own a stake in his next F1 journey, and he has been part of a group of investors looking to purchase a 24 percent stake in Alpine.

Aston Martin has also been mooted, with Horner reportedly having held talks with the team's billionaire owner Lawrence Stroll. Any move there would reunite him with former Red Bull colleague and design genius Adrian Newey.

Even more recently, Horner has been linked with a potential entry to the sport by a 12th team - Chinese electric car giant BYD.

Those links gathered more momentum when current FIA chief Mohammed Ben Sulayem said recently: “Definitely, the message has been said that if there is a team, it will be from China, hopefully.”