Double Formula 1 world champion Emerson Fittipaldi has likened Ferrari boss Fred Vasseur to former team chief Jean Todt, while criticising Christian Horner as “not the right man”.
Ex-Red Bull team boss Horner caused a stir a few weeks ago when he said joining Ferrari would be “the dream”, as he plots a return to the F1 paddock.
He has since backtracked on those comments, saying they were taken out of context.
But there has been surprisingly little backing publicly for Horner to be able to do a good job at Ferrari as team boss if that did happen.
Emerson Fittipaldi has thrown his support behind Vasseur
“A fantastic guy to work with”
Ferrari has publicly backed Fred Vasseur as its F1 team boss amid continuing rumours that his position is under threat.
Now, in an interview with The Sun, F1 legend Fittipaldi says it would be “crazy” for Ferrari to get rid of Vasseur, who he says has a “similar approach” to Jean Todt.
“I know Fred Vasseur well because when I ran the A1 Team Brazil, Fred took care of us; he was my technical leader,” Fittipaldi said.
“He is a fantastic guy to work with. He is strong and has a very similar approach to [ex-Ferrari boss] Jean Todt.
Schumacher and Todt enjoyed huge success together at Ferrari
“It would be crazy for Ferrari to get rid of Fred. He’s a great leader, a racer, and a very tough guy.
“Christian Horner would not be the right man for Ferrari, I don’t think.”
Todt helmed Ferrari during his dominant years with Michael Schumacher, when he won the title consecutively between 2000 and 2004.
Horner told he doesn’t have a big draw
Former Red Bull head of operations, Richard Hockings, also recently told The Daily Star that he joined the team from McLaren based on the draw of working with Adrian Newey.
Christian Horner
© XPB Images
As such, he doesn’t believe Horner would have the same draw if he was Ferrari’s team boss.
“I left McLaren to go to Red Bull mainly because Adrian was there,” Hopkins, who was head of operations from 2013 to 2015, said.
“Because I thought, 'God, if Adrian's at this team, things are going to happen'.
"Everybody wants to go and work for a team that Adrian Newey's at, leading the technical side.
“Engineers want to go and work for that team.
“I don't know if Christian has the same sort of draw, that same sort of magnetism. I don't think so.”
Lewis joined the Crash.net team in August of 2024 having been a journalist for five years covering MotoGP for the Motorsport Network. In February of 2026, he became Head of Editorial.