Christian Horner backtracks on 'out of context' Ferrari comments

Former Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stepped back somewhat from comments he made in a recently-released interview, in which he appeared to be angling for Fred Vasseur's job at Ferrari.

Horner has been looking for a way back into the sport since he was unceremoniously removed from his Red Bull role last summer, but has yet to find a team willing to make as many concessions in terms of power and an ownership stake that he would like.

His interview with The Times set tongues wagging when he suggested that Ferrari would be the only team he could join without demanding an ownership stake, calling them 'the dream' job.

A number of prominent figures within the Scuderia organisation came out strongly over the following days to reiterate their faith in Vasseur, and Horner has now claimed in an interview with The Independent that he was simply trying to be 'respectful' of Ferrari's place in the sport with his comments.

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Horner: Ferrari comments were taken out of context

“It was all taken out of context because I was trying to be respectful to the Ferrari brand because they are different to other teams,” he said. "It's the longest-standing team and the most prominent team in Formula One and they’re not going to sell equity in it.

“It coincided with comments from drivers internally and then you put two and two together and come up with eight. From my perspective, there's 11 teams in Formula 1. There's potentially a 12th entry. But I'm not in a rush to do anything.”

The idea of Horner spearheading a new 12th team is something which has been floated before, and still remains incredibly unlikely to come into existence any time soon.

Could Horner lead 12th F1 team?

While the sport's statutes allow for a 12th team to join the grid, that would require approval from both the FIA and FOM, with a number of key stakeholders reluctant to add to the grid.

One issue is, as ever, money. Going from 10 teams to 12 teams in a short time would mean that each existing team would go from having a roughly 10 per cent slice of the financial pie to just over an 8 per cent share – a significant drop when the numbers thrown around are as large as they are in F1, and margins are as tight.

Another is simply of space. There are a number of circuits on the calendar which simply don't currently have the facilities to accommodate 12 modern F1 teams.

Couple that with the fact that F1 teams starting from scratch are almost always destined to live life at the back of the pack for the duration of their existence, and...well, if Horner comes back in the next couple of years, don't expect it to be like that.

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