Christian Horner 'perfect man' to fix Ferrari as F1 star highlights Vasseur's 'big mistake'

Former Red Bull F1 boss Christian Horner has been hailed as the 'perfect man' to fix Ferrari after the recent drama between Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.

The Italian team have been in the headlines for all of the wrong reasons lately, with on-track tension between Hamilton and Leclerc making the news after high-profile incidents at the Dutch and Italian Grands Prix.

In Zandvoort, Hamilton became increasingly frustrated when he was held up by a slower Leclerc while running a different tyre strategy. Ferrari had asked Leclerc to pit to get him out of the way, but the Monegasque driver initially refused and didn't do so until the following lap, costing Hamilton crucial lap time and what would have been a podium.

Then, at the Italian Grand Prix, the Ferrari duo lined up on the second row for lights out in search of a home win for their team, but raced aggressively against each other in the first two corners, resulting in Hamilton going off track and losing several places. Leclerc later conceded the pair went too far, but Hamilton was adamant there was no 'we'.

Both incidents were blows to Hamilton's title hopes, and a DNF in Madrid now leaves him 101 points adrift of championship leader Kimi Antonelli, all but ending his hopes of an eighth world title this season.

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Ferrari chief accused of weakness after Hamilton-Leclerc tension

Throughout all of the above, Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur refused to declare Hamilton as the team's number one this season, and now, a former F1 star has called the 58-year-old's handling of Zandvoort as 'weak'.

"I was disappointed in Zandvoort when they tried to get him [Leclerc] to change the tyres, which Leclerc didn’t want," former F1 driver Marc Surer told GPFans.

"Instead of just telling him clearly to let Hamilton pass because he's faster at the moment and he’s on a different strategy, so why are they not able to do that?

"I think this was a big mistake by Fred Vasseur, not to say, ‘Okay, I'm the boss, and I'm telling you what you have to do,’ because he was so obvious."

Surer added: "But this is the history of [Ferrari] since Jean Todt left. I think they never had a strong team principal anymore. It was always a bit wishy-washy because there was not somebody there saying, ‘Okay, that’s how we do it,’ like Toto Wolff does."

Christian Horner 'perfect' for Ferrari, but only if key concession made

One team principal currently out of work and one who has not been afraid to make strong calls before is Horner, of course. Surer believes would be the 'perfect man' for Ferrari - who last won the drivers' championship in 2007 and the constructors' in 2008.

Horner has been a free agent since his Red Bull exit last September, and has been consistently linked with a return to the F1 paddock. Surer believes that the 52-year-old Englishman and Ferrari could be a great fit, but only if he is given the freedom to bring in his own people.

"Christian Horner would be the perfect man to do it, I’m sure," Surer continued.

"On the other hand, why should he do it?

"He has a nice life. He has his family and his horses, all in England; why should he go to Italy and get all the bad press? Because this is what will happen if something goes wrong: it's always immediately bad press.

"It’s not easy to be team principal at Ferrari, so why should he do it? And if he does, he should also be able to form the team like Ross Brawn did.

"When Ross Brawn went there, he took half of the team that came from Benetton; suddenly Ferrari was a British team after that, with a French team principal [Jean Todt]. If Christian goes by himself, alone, he’s lost there."

Surer, ambassador for Casino Groups, added that if Ferrari are willing to make the same concessions that they did with Todt and Brawn, Horner could be a hit in Maranello.

"The Ferrari team principals, they have to decide what they want. If they say, ‘Okay, we are Ferrari, we are the most successful team ever in Formula 1’ and you have to be happy to work there and to try it there. This is the wrong approach," Surer said.

As they did with Jean Todt and Ross Brawn, they decided, ‘Now we have to win the championship’. I think it was 21 years at the time, and they decided, ‘Okay, we take the best people we can get; it doesn't matter where they come from.’ So there was a German driver, a French team principal and a British chief engineer.

“And if they are ready to do that, I’ll say this could be the challenge for Christian Horner to do it [return to F1]. But only then, not just to come alone and be team principal, he will get lost.”

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Simmey Hannifin Donaldson - F1 Editor

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