Lewis Hamilton has dismissed speculation linking former Red Bull boss Christian Horner with Ferrari as "distracting” for the struggling Italian team.
Horner, 51, is reportedly eyeing a return to Formula One after agreeing to an 80 million pounds ($107.5 million) exit deal from Red Bull last month, following his ouster after July’s British Grand Prix.
Rumors have since tied him to Ferrari, which remains winless this season despite a multiyear contract extension for team principal Fred Vasseur in July.
Hamilton said the chatter about Horner potentially replacing Vasseur is doing little to steady Ferrari’s focus amid its ongoing slump.
"It is a little bit distracting for us as a team,” Hamilton said ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix. "The team has made it clear where things stand in terms of re-signing Fred. Fred and the whole team are working really hard on the future of the team.
"I don’t know where the rumors have come from, so I can’t really shed much light on that. These things naturally aren’t helpful. I know everyone back at the factory is working really hard, and these kinds of rumors can be distracting.
"For me, it’s about keeping focus on the goal in front of us and building next year’s car so that we can have better execution and better performance.”
The seven-time world champion is still waiting for his first Ferrari podium amid a disappointing debut season that began with many expecting the Italian giants to contend for both championships.
He is sixth in the standings, 211 points adrift of leader Oscar Piastri.
Horner’s success during his 20-year tenure at Red Bull – where he oversaw eight drivers’ and six constructors’ championships – means he remains an attractive prospect for the sport’s leading teams.
The settlement he reached with Red Bull means he could return to the paddock as early as next summer.
Hamilton, a six-time winner of the race in Austin, revealed he has been getting to grips with a prancing horse of a different kind ahead of the weekend.
"Yesterday I rode a horse for the first time. It was an unbelievable experience,” the 40-year-old said. "When it started to gallop, I didn’t know what to do in that moment and started to panic a little bit. I’m really excited about this phase of my life where I want to get into horses a little bit more.”
Hamilton added that horses triggered his asthma and allergies as a child and that he had "stayed away from them since that day.”
The race in Austin is the second in succession to be declared a "heat hazard.”
Temperatures at the Circuit of the Americas are forecast to exceed 31 degrees Celsius (88 degrees Fahrenheit) during both the sprint and the main race.
As was the case in Singapore two weeks ago, the heat hazard declaration allows drivers to wear cooling vests in their cars.
McLaren’s Piastri holds a 22-point lead over teammate Lando Norris heading into a weekend where 33 points are up for grabs across Saturday’s sprint and Sunday’s race in Texas.