Antonello Coletta, the head of Ferrari’s World Endurance Championship operation, has emerged as a favourite to replace Fred Vasseur as F1 team principal.

It comes after PlanetF1.com revealed last month that claims that Ferrari made an approach Christian Horner, the Red Bull team principal, are accurate.

Ferrari WEC boss to replace Fred Vasseur after failed Christian Horner approach?

Vasseur joined Ferrari in December 2022 following the departure of Mattia Binotto, leading the Italian team’s rebuild after a number of lean years.

Ferrari enjoyed their most successful season for some time in 2024, falling just 14 points short of Constructors’ champions McLaren with five wins split between Charles Leclerc (Monaco, Italy, United States) and Carlos Sainz (Australia, Mexico).

The Scuderia’s strong form raised hopes that the team would finally end their extended wait for a World Championship – stretching back to their most recent Constructors’ title triumph in 2008 – in F1 2025.

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However, Ferrari have suffered a troubled start to the season and trail runaway leaders McLaren by a massive 191 points after last weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix, the 10th race of the campaign.

Lewis Hamilton, signed as Sainz’s replacement for F1 2025, has so far failed to meet the expectations generated by his high-profile move from Mercedes.

The seven-time World Champion, who celebrated his 40th birthday last winter, has not scored a podium across his first 10 appearances with Ferrari, marking his worst-ever start to an F1 season.

The team also took the unusual decision to introduce a number of new design concepts with the SF-25 car despite 2024’s solid base and this season marking the last of the current regulations, with the gamble so far backfiring on Ferrari.

Ferrari also failed to sign Adrian Newey, the most decorated individual in F1 history, following his departure from Red Bull last year with the design guru opting to join the rival Aston Martin team.

Multiple reports from Italy ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix weekend claimed that Vasseur is under mounting pressure at Ferrari, with the next few races crucial for the Frenchman’s future.

And the respected Italian publication Corriere della Sera has claimed that Coletta is among the leading candidates to replace Vasseur if a change is made, having led Ferrari to considerable success in endurance racing.

Ferrari’s 499P hypercar remains unbeaten at the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours race since the Scuderia returned to the premier category of endurance racing two years ago, with the in-house Ferrari AF Corse team winning the event in 2023 and 2024 with the 499P hypercar.

The manufacturer’s success continued at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, where a privately entered 499p piloted by Robert Kubica, the former BMW, Renault and Williams F1 driver, took victory.

Ferrari have dominated the 2025 WEC season with the 499P winning all four rounds held so far.

Coletta has been widely hailed for his role in Ferrari’s success in endurance racing, where he is global head of Ferrari endurance and Corse Clienti, having previously served as the head of Scuderia Ferrari’s sporting activities from 2014.

A WEC title, a feat never achieved before by Ferrari, in 2025 could see Coletta rewarded with a promotion to the top F1 job in Vasseur’s place.

It has been speculated that Lorenzo Giorgetti, Ferrari’s chief racing revenue officer, could take a more specific role with the F1 team alongside Coletta, potentially in a similar dual-leadership structure to that adopted by McLaren where chief executive Zak Brown and team principal Andrea Stella share responsibilities.

Corriere della Sera has claimed that Coletta previously declined an offer to become Ferrari F1 team principal, with the Scuderia’s hierarchy unlikely to accept him turning the job down a second time.

It is said that Coletta and Horner, the longest-serving team principal in F1 having been appointed by Red Bull in 2005, are ‘at the top of the list’ to replace Vasseur if a change is made.

However, PlanetF1.com understands from sources close to the situation that Ferrari’s hopes of luring Horner away from Red Bull are extremely remote.

In an exclusive interview with PlanetF1.com published last week, Horner insisted that he remains fully committed to Red Bull with his “heart and soul” belonging to the team.

He told Thomas Maher: “Obviously, over the years, I’ve had different approaches and it’s always flattering to be associated with any other team as they’re all great teams.

“But my heart and soul are in this team. I’ve invested a big part of my life in it and I feel a responsibility to the people.

“It’s a group of 2,000 people and I’m really excited about what the future holds in terms of building our own engine [from 2026].

“That’s very much the next chapter for us, having it all under one roof. How many people have done that?

“That’s a massive challenge but a great opportunity and something, as an organisation, we’re very excited about.

“The people are what makes a team and that’s who I feel a tremendous attachment to.

“Both in the team, obviously, and the shareholders that have supported, the sponsors and partners – we now have 58 partners that I’ve been responsible for bringing into the team, and we have a great relationship with so many of those partners.

“It feels a significant part of my life.”

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Vasseur hit out at the speculation surrounding his future during the team principals’ press conference in Canada last weekend, describing the media reports as “disrespectful.”

He said: “I have to stay calm because [if not] I will have to [visit] the stewards [for swearing].

“It’s not about myself, I think, because this I can manage.

“It’s more about the people of the team; I think it’s just disrespectful for them, for [their] families. We had the case last year with the chief of aero already.

“I don’t know the target [behind the rumours]. I don’t understand the target.

“Perhaps it’s to give s**t to the team, but in this case I don’t see the point.

“Perhaps it’s for them [the journalists] the only way to exist. This is probably more the reason, but it’s really hurting the team.

“At one stage, it’s a lack of focus and when you are fighting for the championship, every single detail makes the difference.

“And from the beginning of the weekend, we are just speaking about this.

“If it’s their target to put them team in this situation, they reach their goal. But I think it’s not like this that we’ll be able to win a championship, at least not with this kind of journalist around us.

“They are working very hard, and to decide one day that this one will be replaced, this one will be replaced, this one is useless — honestly, it’s very, very harsh.

“They have these journalists — and I’m not putting everybody in the same basket — but they have to consider that these people, they have family, they have wives, they have kids and this is completely unrespectful [sic].

“But now I don’t want to speak anymore about this stupid [topic].”

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