Christian Horner reveals Lewis Hamilton was ‘very interested’ in a Red Bull seat back in 2010
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Lewis Hamilton & Christian Horner
Lewis Hamilton is quite easily the most decorated Formula 1 driver of all time – He holds the records for the most wins, the most podiums and the most pole positions, along with having the joint record number of world championships, seven, with Michael Schumacher. Without a doubt, he has had an illustrious career.
The Briton has had an illustrious career and had shown his potential way back at his time in McLaren when he went toe-to-toe with all-time great Fernando Alonso in the first season, and then won his first title in a nail-biting finale against Felipe Massa. Then he moved to Mercedes in 2013, where he has, to date, won 6 world championships.
He and Sebastian Vettel defined the decade with their string of championships. Vettel did so at Red Bull – winning 4 world championships consecutively, even though he could not repeat nearly the same results at Ferrari. Despite that, it is fair to say that they have, at their peak, the drivers who defined the decade. And they just as easily could have spent some years in the same team.
Christian Horner: Lewis Hamilton was ‘very keen’ to come to Red Bull
As reported by MARCA, Christian Horner has revealed that he and Hamilton had some contact over the years. Last year, the contact was unlikely to have been positive, as Red Bull and Mercedes, with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, were locked into a title battle for the ages. While Mercedes won the Constructor’s, Hamilton missed out on his 8th Driver’s Title in a thrilling and controversial finale.
Christian Horner said: “Lewis and I have had a couple of conversations over the years. From 2010 to 2013, he was very keen to come and drive for Red Bull.” Presumably, Hamilton would have partnered with Vettel, which is a mouth-watering concept for the fans, and then it is very likely that the battle at Red Bull would be extremely tense, hence, it did not make sense for Red Bull to get him.
Horner continued: “But, we had Sebastian at that time and to have had two alpha drivers wouldn’t have made sense. Niki Lauda was at Mercedes and was very keen to take Lewis and I remember encouraging him to take him.”
Horner says that he felt that McLaren were more of a threat than Mercedes, and this is why he encouraged Lauda: “We were fighting McLaren in 2012. They had the fastest car and we felt that Lewis in a McLaren would be more of a threat than in a Mercedes. I encouraged Niki to spend the money as Lewis was wavering a little bit. It would be fair to say that backfired on me.”
One can only think what may have been if Lewis had stayed at McLaren, or if he had gone to Red Bull. Who would have taken his place at Mercedes? The possibilities were endless. And if he hadn’t stayed past 2013 at Red Bull, that would have been an even more exciting concept for him and his fans, as he would have had a shot at every championship in the last decade.
Also Read: “A surreal experience that I would never forget”: Lewis Hamilton reflects on his visit to Rwanda
Also Read: “It is very easy to pull his chain,” Christian Horner takes a dig at Toto Wolff for being ‘gullible’
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)