Christian Horner has refused to publicly scold new world champion Sebastian Vettel for admitting he "dreams" about a future with Ferrari.

With the 23-year-old’s contract running towards its expiry and Red Bull openly keen to retain him, Vettel has mused on several occasions recently that he sees Ferrari as an ideal employer at some point in his career.

But even though the young German is a home-grown talent and Red Bull’s first champion, and he looks to be sitting in another title-charging car for 2011, team boss Horner said he will not be urging Vettel to keep some of his opinions to himself.

"One of the things we encourage is a freedom of expression and so on, and Sebastian is his own person and he’s got his own opinions," the Briton is quoted by Press Association Sport.

"I think any driver at some stage in his career would like to drive for the red team, and we certainly don’t hold that against him," added Horner.

He joked that he wouldn’t mind if Vettel switches to Ferrari "just before he retires" in "ten years" or more.