Christian Horner believes Ferrari are “different” to every other F1 team, but he doubts Maranello will be his next home as the Scuderia would never allow him to buy a stake.

The 52-year-old has called himself a “sleeping giant”, having now spent 15 months without a job in F1. Red Bull fired Horner in July 2025 after 20 years in charge, as the parent Red Bull GmbH company no longer believed the Briton was the right person to be pulling the strings.

It is understood that Red Bull bosses felt Horner had claimed too much power following the death of Dietrich Mateschitz. He was not just the CEO and team principal of Red Bull Racing but also the head of Red Bull Technologies and he was the architect of Red Bull Powertrains.

Ferrari last won the F1 title in 2007 with Kimi Raikkonen 🏆 Why have the Scuderia gone 19 years without another title? And when will their next title arrive?

Christian Horner says Ferrari are unlike any other F1 team as a ‘national’ pride in Italy

Despite his time in the wilderness, Horner does not feel Alpine match his vision for a return to F1, following talks with Otro Capital about buying its 24% stake in the Enstone squad. His desire to own shares is key to whatever project the Royal Leamington Spa native takes next.

Thus, despite Horner recently claiming he would forgo owning shares to join Ferrari, he has now stated that his desire for a stakeholding remains his “priority”. Yet a move to Maranello would give Horner a different challenge, as Ferrari are unlike every other Formula 1 team as they are the pride of Italy. No F1 team has the support of an entire nation like Ferrari enjoy.

Horner told talkSPORT: “I’ve raised an awful lot of capital over the last 12 months to invest in a team, which obviously you wouldn’t be able to do with Ferrari…

“And Ferrari are a different team to all the rest. They’re very much a national team. They’re an iconic team. I mean, I’m very much sort of a sleeping giant at the moment. But my priority, really, is to acquire equity in a team, as opposed to just being a manager.”

Horner believes his recent comments about Ferrari were taken out of context, as his claims about the Scuderia being the “dream” job were made a month before they were published. Horner made those remarks during an interview with The Times that was published prior to the Italian Grand Prix, which resulted in Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur enduring undue pressure.

It now remains to be seen with whom Horner may return to Formula 1 in the future, should he actually return to the paddock. Having essentially ruled out Ferrari and Alpine, Horner might have to hope a team such as Aston Martin, Williams or Cadillac get itchy trigger fingers.