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Ferrari boss Elkann has 'full confidence' in Vasseur amid Horner rumours

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Ferrari chairman John Elkann has reaffirmed the company's "full confidence" in under-pressure Formula 1 team boss Fred Vasseur.

Vasseur was handed a multi-year contract extension in July, but a report this week in the Daily Mail claimed Elkann has been chasing ex-Red Bull boss Christian Horner to replace him next year.

Horner can return to F1 in the spring of 2026, having reached a settlement believed to be worth $100 million (£75m) with his former team.

The report came with Ferrari nearing the end of what has been a dismal campaign without a single grand prix win.

Superstar driver Lewis Hamilton on Thursday said the Horner news was "distracting" and when asked if a Ferrari move for the Englishman would be a good idea, simply said: "No, and I'm not going to entertain those [rumours]."

The team has stressed in the build-up to this weekend's U.S. Grand Prix that there is no fact to the report.

Speaking at the National Italian American Foundation (NIAF) in Washington D.C. on Saturday, Elkann tried to put further distance between the company and Horner.

"I want to express our full confidence in our Team Principal, Fred Vasseur, and in the work he is carrying out together with all our colleagues at Scuderia Ferrari -- the mechanics, engineers, and drivers competing this weekend in Austin," Elkann said in a statement.

"I also want to reaffirm the importance of teamwork by everyone to maintain focus on the only goal that matters: always giving our very best on the track."

Ferrari has not won an F1 championship of any kind since the constructors' in 2008. Kimi Raikkonen's 2007 title remains the last won by a Ferrari driver.