BARCELONA, Spain — Christian Horner has reaffirmed his “100 percent” commitment to Red Bull following a report of interest from Ferrari.
According to German publication Bild earlier this week, Ferrari chairman John Elkann reached out to Horner about replacing Fred Vasseur.
Elkann and Horner are known to have a good friendship stretching back several years.
The Englishman flatly denied the report on Friday in a news conference at Barcelona’s Circuit de Catalunya.
“Of course it’s always flattering to be associated with other teams but my commitment 100 percent is with Red Bull,” Horner said. “It always has been and certainly will be for the long-term.
“There’s a bunch of speculation always in this business. People coming here, going there or whatever. I think people within the team know exactly what the situation is.”
Horner was seated alongside Alpine’s Flavio Briatore, who had mumbled his way through the whole news conference.
Horner quipped: “My Italian is worse than Flavio’s English, so how on earth would that work?”
Vassuer was the eventual pick to replace Binotto and he has been credited for reviving the team’s race operation.
But after finishing second in last year’s championship Vasseur’s Ferrari are coming under increasing pressure due to an underwhelming run of form.
The preseason hype around Lewis Hamilton’s arrival has quickly given way to the grim reality of the team being a long way off the pace of McLaren.
Hamilton has not yet been on the podium, although he did win the sprint race in China.
Charles Leclerc has scored the only two Ferrari podium finishes of the year so far.
Vasseur has not yet spoken to the media to address the Bild report and answer the charge Ferrari is looking to make a change.
Source: espn.com