Ferrari and Christian Horner is not a compatible marriage

If the German media reports are anything to go by, Ferrari chairman John Elkann wants Christian Horner to replace Fred Vasseur. Whether there is truth to these claims or not, it is certainly a conversation starter when it comes to F1 and the landscape.

On one side, it's safe to say that Fred Vasseur's tenure has not yielded the kind of success that was promised and expected. To make things worse, Ferrari has stumbled onto a run where it does appear that the team is heading for its worst season in the ground effect era.

This might be the first time it ends the season without a win in these regulations, and it seems that it's going to take a monumental effort to prevent this from happening.

At the same time, if Christian Horner is available, it's worth a punt to try and bring him on. He's already a certified legend within the sport, and the work that he did with Red Bull and the heights to which he took that team are certainly nothing to be scoffed at.

On merit, Ferrari pursuing Christian Horner is not a bad thing. In reality, however, the partnership is just not compatible. Let's take a look.

Christian Horner wants to be a stakeholder on his return to F1

For starters, Christian Horner doesn't want to join a team where he's once again just an employee. He wants to have skin in the game and would hence make a return to the sport only and only if he is allowed to buy a stake in the team.

If it were some midfield or backmarker team that wanted something like this, then it was fine. But what we're looking at here is Ferrari, and buying a stake in the Scuderia is something that not only John Elkann but also other board members would not be in favor of.

Even last season, when it came to Adrian Newey, it did appear that the dealbreaker was the fact that the star designer was offered a stake in Aston Martin, and that was a bridge too far for the Italian team.

Ferrari and John Elkann do not give that power to anyone

Christian Horner's return to the sport is not going to be as someone who has a boss above him that shouts orders at him, and hence, he has to worry about his future. In the last 18 months at Red Bull, this was precisely what Horner faced, and it would have toughened his resolve to not just be an employee anymore.

Unfortunately, this is where the major bone of contention comes when it is related to Ferrari. Someone like John Elkann is not hiring an equal, and he does not want to relinquish any of his powers. As a result, we just end up without the much-needed compatibility between the two sides.

Christian Horner has been a witness to the Ferrari implosion over the last 2 decades

Finally, and arguably the most important bit, is that if there is someone who has closely monitored how much of a managerial disaster Ferrari is, then that person is Christian Horner. Out of his first 4 titles as Red Bull boss, two of them came against the Italian team, and he's seen where things go wrong.

Since Horner was the team boss at Red Bull, he's seen as many as 6 team principal changes. The reality is that Horner has seen what goes on at Ferrari, and even right now, if he is approached, he'd know it is a part of the periodic cycle of a team boss being changed after a few years when we don't see the results.

Such a trait doesn't make a team desirable, even when it is Ferrari.

Conclusion

When it comes to the skill set and what is needed at Ferrari to win, Christian Horner might just be the right man for the Scuderia to have its best possible shot at winning. Unfortunately, what Horner would want if he were to join the team is something that John Elkann cannot provide him, and as a result, the partnership might never materialize.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli