Fred Vasseur: Ferrari statement aimed at "third party"…

Ferrari team principal Fred Vasseur revealed the statement of support from chairman John Elkann was aimed at a “third party” amid rumours of Christian Horner joining the Scuderia.

Elkann said Ferrari has “full confidence” in the Frenchman “and in the work he is carrying out” ahead of last weekend’s United States Grand Prix, where Ferrari finished third and fourth.

It came after rumours circulated that Ferrari was looking to sign former Red Bull boss Horner as Vasseur’s replacement, despite the latter signing a new contract with the Italian outfit in July.

Horner has been in contact with F1 teams looking for his way back into the championship, but Elkann’s statement has all but ended any possibility of him joining Ferrari.

“For everybody it's good to have this kind of message,” said Vasseur. “But as we have a permanent contact, we already had the message, that was more for the third party and external target.”

When pressed on how vital the statement was to him, he replied: “Yes, it's important because like this you stop the discussion and you are focused on the next one and not to reply to all the questions about this.”

Christian Horner, Red Bull Racing (Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool)

Vasseur’s position has been a hot topic this year after he faced staunch criticism from Italian media earlier in 2025 due to Ferrari’s disappointing start to the season.

After taking the battle with eventual champions McLaren to the final day last year, Ferrari was expected to be a title contender this season, yet it quickly emerged that the British squad had pulled clear.

Ferrari is currently third in the championship, 344 points behind leaders McLaren, and is yet to win a grand prix in 2025 with five rounds remaining.

Despite that, Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc still have full confidence in Vasseur and they were asked about the Horner links ahead of the Austin weekend.

"It's a little bit distracting for us as a team," said Hamilton, who joined Ferrari this year and previously worked with Vasseur when he won the 2006 GP2 title at ART Grand Prix.

"Obviously, the team have made it clear where they stand in terms of re-signing Fred, and Fred and I and the whole team are working really hard on the future for the team. So these things naturally aren't helpful.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, Lewis Hamilton, Ferrari (Photo by: Clive Mason / Getty Images)

"I know everyone back in the factory is working incredibly hard, focused, and these sort of rumours can sometimes be distracting.

“But for me, it's really trying to keep the focus on the goal that's in front of us and building on next year's car, really continuing to build a foundation on this year so that next year we can have better execution, better overall performance."

Leclerc said the noise is part and parcel of Ferrari but it is still not a welcome distraction, as the Scuderia looks to end an F1 title drought that stretches back to 2008.

"There are lots of speculations around me, but just in general around the team for whatever reason, I feel like there are too many people speaking things not coming from actual facts and it's just a little bit annoying,” said Leclerc.

"It's always been like that. And I think as a driver, but I think as a team, we've just got to focus on our things, which is what we are doing. But it's just not great and not super nice to see all these things around the team all the time.

"It's definitely not a situation we want to be in, in a way that the performance is not at the level where we want to be. But we are all focused on trying to turn that situation around, as I was saying.

"And whenever there is a situation where the results are not there, then there are always those rumours around that come back. But yeah, I mean, what I say today is what I've said in the past six or seven years with the team."