Ferrari President 'Focused' on Christian Horner Signing as Statement Released

Ferrari president John Elkann is 'focused' on signing Christian Horner as team principal, according to an F1 journalist.

Horner was sacked as CEO and team principal of Red Bull in July after 20 years with the team.

Red Bull officially cut ties with Horner in August by removing him from their Companies House filing, where he was listed as a director.

They then agreed a £52 million payoff with the 51-year-old.

Following his initial sacking, Horner had been placed on gardening leave while the full terms of his exit were finalised.

According to reports, he agreed to waive part of his payoff in order to reduce his gardening leave period, therefore enabling him to negotiate with other teams over a return to F1.

He has clearly been active in that respect, with Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell claiming during the Singapore Grand Prix that Horner had been 'ringing up pretty much every team owner'.

According to veteran German journalist Ralf Bach, Ferrari president Elkann is 'apparently really focused on securing Christian Horner's place' as team principal - despite recently agreeing a contract extension with current boss Frederic Vasseur.

He added: "Horner has 14 world championship titles on his resume. Elkann is considered a very emotional guy who isn't interested in what he thought yesterday, but rather what he thinks today.

"They've extended Vasseur's contract, and yet his position is apparently already wobbling again. And that's where Horner comes in."

Elkann and Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna made rare statements on Thursday during Ferrari's Capital Markets Day.

The pair focused on addressing Ferrari's underperformance in Formula 1 this year, with Vigna stating: "Our goal was to win races. We achieved that with the 499P [that won the Le Mans 24 Hours] in endurance racing, but in Formula 1 we need to improve.

"We must win because it's our duty to our loyal fans around the world."

Out of Horner's potential avenues, a move to Ferrari would be the most intriguing - mainly as it would give Horner the opportunity to work with Lewis Hamilton.

Horner and Hamilton have not always been on the best of terms, to say the least, particularly during the Brit's fierce 2021 Drivers' Championship battle with Max Verstappen.

The Red Bull chief was furious at Mercedes driver Hamilton after his lap one crash with Verstappen at the British Grand Prix, fully blaming him and describing his move on the Dutchman as 'desperate'.

He added: "It's unacceptable. Max has endured a 51G accident. Lewis Hamilton is an eight [seven]-time world champion - he shouldn't be making manoeuvres like that. I hope Lewis is very happy with himself.

"You just don't do that here. You don't stick a wheel up the inside of Copse. The speed they're travelling, it's one of the fastest corners in the championship. I'm just very disappointed that a driver of his calibre should make such a move. It's dangerous, it looked desperate, he's put a competitor in hospital. I don't care what Lewis said."

When asked for his opinion on Horner's sacking in July, Hamilton said he was non-plussed: "When I'm away from race weekends, I don't pay attention to what is happening in F1 other than what's happening in my own team, so I was neither surprised or not surprised. I was just minding my business."