Asked after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix whether he could see himself working alongside Horner at Ferrari, Fred Vasseur gave the kind of answer that is now defining his autumn.

“You have to ask my assistant,” he told reporters.

It was a one-liner, and no one in the paddock misread it. The Frenchman is not interested in any lesser position at Maranello if the former Red Bull boss is handed the Scuderia. GPblog reports there would be no alternative role kept open for him inside Ferrari if Christian Horner is appointed.

The fans are split, not sold

An Express Sport poll of 1,457 Formula 1 supporters, reported by Yahoo on Tuesday, found 47 percent want Vasseur to stay, 38 percent want Horner installed in his place and the remaining 15 percent would prefer a different name altogether.

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That is a thin majority for the incumbent in a fan base famous for its impatience, and the team principal’s chair at Maranello has become the sport’s noisiest talking point.

Horner leaves the door wide open

The speculation was supercharged last month when Horner, who left Red Bull in July 2025, went public with how badly he wants the job. Promoting his book Drive in an interview reported by Yahoo Sports, he said: “At this stage in my life, there’s only one team for which I would accept non-participation in ownership.”

He called Ferrari “the biggest brand in Formula One” and “the sleeping giant” of the sport, publicly dropping his usual demand for an equity stake if that was what it took to get to Maranello.

Vasseur has barely hidden his irritation.

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“Mr Horner is looking for a job, that everybody knows, everywhere,” he said after Baku.

“We are not working in the perfect serenity. For me firstly, but for everybody in the team.”

Vigna’s silent omission

Ferrari CEO Benedetto Vigna has publicly defended his team principal, telling reporters that “the trust in Fred is there and has always been there”, according to GPblog’s report dated 7 October.

What Vigna has not said is just as loud. The CEO has stopped short of guaranteeing Vasseur will still be running the team in 2027, even though his contract, extended in July 2025, is understood to run to the end of that season.

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Williams team principal James Vowles has gone further than anyone inside Ferrari in Vasseur’s defence, telling reporters there is “no question” that the Frenchman is the right man for the job and arguing the Scuderia are in their best competitive position in years.

Vasseur is contracted to run Ferrari to the end of 2027, and he has told the paddock in his own words that if the chair goes to Horner before then, he does not plan to be anywhere near Maranello in any capacity.

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