A close friend of Christian Horner has revealed why we won’t see the former Red Bull boss joining Ferrari anytime soon.
Horner was shockingly fired earlier in the month after a difficult 2025 for Red Bull. He had served as the team principal since Red Bull’s inception in 2005.
In that time, he brought the team eight drivers' championships and six constructors' championships.
Rumours have been swirling since his departure about whether the 51-year-old will return to F1 in the future, with many claiming Ferrari is an option, but a former F1 driver and friend of Horner has revealed why that won’t happen.
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|Christian Horner was sacked earlier this month
“Horner is very good, but I think that all the stories from last year would be a problem," he said.
"He can put on the table his record over the last 20 years. He has a very good pedigree. But one year on, they are still talking about this story.”
Patrese was referring to allegations that surfaced in 2024 from a female employee who accused Horner of “inappropriate behaviour."
The former Red Bull boss denied the allegations and was cleared of any wrongdoing following internal investigations but it is still spoken about widely today.
Patrese added: “I'm a friend of Christian Horner and sent him a message of support, and I think that he is a very good team principal.
"I think he's able to do the job, but Ferrari wants to have an image and not many distractions. This is my opinion.”
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|Ricardo Patrese has revealed that he believes Ferrari will not employ Christian Horner
Ferrari has been brought into the mix as current team principal Fred Vasseur’s contract is expiring at the end of the season, and with the Scuderia dropping back from their performance last season, the 57-year-old's role has been brought into question.
“There has been a lot of criticism of him because of their results, and they are up and down and do not have consistency," Patrese continued.
“But after the storms and the tornadoes at Ferrari, I think the air is getting better. It looks like that, at the moment, everything is sleeping about Vasseur. The speculation has stopped.”
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The season could get worse for the Milton Keynes-based team as they could lose their four-time and reigning world champion Max Verstappen.
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The Dutchman has been linked throughout the season with a move to Mercedes due to the issues within the hierarchy of Red Bull.
Toto Wolff had already revealed earlier in the season he had been pursuing the Dutchman whilst his driver, George Russell, is still waiting for a contract renewal from his Mercedes team.