Christian Horner’s comments about Ferrari have prompted speculation about whether the former Red Bull team principal could lead the Italian team. Horner said in a Times interview that Ferrari is the only team for which he would accept “non-participation in ownership,” and described it as “the dream.” Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur responded after the Azerbaijan Grand Prix that Horner was “looking for a job” everywhere, and said the talk had left the team “not working in the perfect serenity.”

Horner was Red Bull’s team principal from 2005 to 2025. He is promoting a new book, and his remarks about Ferrari have renewed discussion of his next role. In the interview, he said: “Would I consider Ferrari? I mean, Ferrari is the biggest brand in Formula 1. It's the dream. And arguably it's the sleeping giant of Formula 1.”

Those comments suggest he would consider an offer, but the conditions he might accept and whether Ferrari would make one remain open questions. Horner has long argued that a Formula 1 team needs one person in charge with overall control. At Ferrari, chairman John Elkann and chief executive officer Benedetto Vigna would retain more authority than a team principal, making it unlikely Horner would receive the level of control he has sought.

Even at Red Bull, Horner’s leadership of the F1 team was subject to oversight from the company’s headquarters in Austria. That relationship ultimately contributed to his removal. It is difficult to see Elkann and Vigna giving up input into Ferrari’s team, or a team principal being left alone in practice even if given assurances.

Ferrari would also need to consider the circumstances surrounding Horner’s departure from Red Bull. His record there was highly successful: during his two-decade tenure, the team won eight drivers’ titles, six constructors’ championships and 124 grands prix. The team’s final 18 months under his leadership, however, were marked by a decline and internal upheaval.

A female employee accused Horner of sexual harassment and coercive, controlling behaviour. Red Bull dismissed the allegations after two internal investigations led by external lawyers. The allegations were a key factor in chief technical officer Adrian Newey’s departure, alongside internal politics and Newey’s view that Horner had diminished his role. Long-time sporting director Jonathan Wheatley and head of strategy Will Courtenay also left the team.

Red Bull dismissed Horner after a slump in form that bosses concluded the team did not appear capable of reversing under his leadership. In the Times interview, Horner said the only reason he had been given for his sacking was “it was more Christian Horner Racing than Red Bull Racing”. He also said: “I am a bit of a Marmite character. I know I'm not everybody's cup of tea. It's impossible to be.” At another point, he said: “I'm the cure and the problem.”

Any decision about whether he should lead a team would require careful consideration of both his results and the issues around his exit. Ferrari driver Lewis Hamilton has also made clear over the past few years that he has little time for Horner.

The questions come as Formula 1 heads to Malaysia for the Bahrain Grand Prix, an event originally scheduled for April and postponed because of the war in the Middle East. The race is set for 2 to 4 October at Sepang, with live commentary on BBC Radio 5 Live and Sports Extra. The wider conflict has also raised questions about whether the final two races of the season, in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, can proceed.

Formula 1, as the commercial rights holder, decides the calendar; the FIA, the governing body, effectively rubber-stamps that decision. For now, F1 plans to finish the season as originally scheduled, with Las Vegas followed by Qatar and Abu Dhabi over the last two weekends in November and the first weekend in December.

Although the war involving the United States, Israel and Iran continues, F1 has been advised that the situation in Qatar and Abu Dhabi is stable and the risk of attacks on civilian infrastructure is not high. The UK Foreign Office does not advise against travel to either destination. It says the situation “remains unpredictable” and there is “a risk of more attacks and unforeseen escalation in the region.” Qatar and Abu Dhabi consider themselves open for business.

F1 has a contingency plan if the conflict escalates and the Gulf races cannot go ahead. Imola, in Italy, is preparing to host a race on the weekend of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. It would stage the season finale from 4 to 6 December. There are no confirmed calendar changes because the races remain scheduled to take place.

Another Azerbaijan question concerned the decision not to call a virtual safety car after Valtteri Bottas crashed on the penultimate lap. Bottas’s Cadillac hit the barriers at Turn 15. Leaders George Russell and Max Verstappen arrived at the corner on their final lap less than a second apart. A car in the barriers on a street circuit would normally prompt at least a virtual safety car.

An FIA spokesperson said race control “determined that it was safe to let the leaders race to the line - they were able to cut the apex at T15, as it's a relatively slow corner”. The FIA said the incident was “successfully managed by localised double yellows”. Whether that was the right decision, or whether race control wanted to avoid finishing under caution, remains open to debate. The decision allowed the race to continue at speed, but slowing for the incident caused a technical problem for Russell.

“I lifted off the power and when I went back, I had no turbo, so then I had no power,” Russell said. “Max almost got me at the line.” Russell used all the battery available on the run to the finish to offset the loss from the internal combustion engine, since he did not need to preserve energy for another lap. He held on by less than 0.2 seconds. Had he lost the lead, race control’s decision would likely have faced more scrutiny.

Russell took his first victory since June by holding off Verstappen in Baku. Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Isack Hadjar finished third, returning after missing three races with a broken wrist. Championship leader Kimi Antonelli finished fifth, reducing his advantage over Mercedes team-mate Russell to 66 points.

Williams also had a strong Azerbaijan weekend. Carlos Sainz qualified ninth, then received a five-place grid penalty that dropped him to 14th. He finished 10th and earned a point. The team’s lighter chassis and aerodynamic upgrades in Baku marked a step forward, producing its best qualifying result of the year by position. In percentage terms, Williams had been slightly closer to the front in Miami in May.

It is too early to assess the full effect of the Williams upgrades because performance varies by circuit. The team expected Baku to suit its car, which performs well in short-duration corners and on long straights. It struggles in long-duration corners, of which Sepang has many, so the Malaysia weekend will provide another measure of the car’s competitiveness.

Aston Martin’s recent gains also depend on circuit characteristics. Its aerodynamic upgrade in Hungary improved chassis performance by about two seconds per lap. That helped the team make significant progress in Hungary and Zandvoort, where Fernando Alonso drove to ninth place and two points. Despite a further upgrade for Zandvoort, however, the Honda engine remains the weakest on the grid for overall power, driveability and energy management.

That weakness helps explain Aston Martin’s struggles at Monza and Baku, two circuits that rely heavily on engine performance. The team is expected to be relatively more competitive in Singapore, where power sensitivity is low and Alonso has usually performed well. In a separate question about his future, Alonso has discussed why he is staying in F1, saying he still feels as fast as anybody.

Based on reporting by BBC Sport.