The Yas Marina circuit is heated up with a lot of drama which involves rivals; Red Bull and Mercedes. The team principal of the Austrian outfit, Christian Horner has made a bold allegation about Lewis Hamilton. As per his claims, the Briton’s team had reached out to Red Bull for a possible switch. In his initial response to Horner’s statement, the Mercedes head, Toto Wolff expressed uncertainty in the driving force behind such remarks.
However, during an interview with Speedcafe, Wolff said, “I just don’t know what drives the guy. What happened is that Christian, through an agency that we work with, wanted to have Lewis’ contact details to speak about the seat. That’s how the whole thing went. It was Christian enquiring about Lewis’ availability.”
He went ahead and stated, “Lewis had an exchange with Christian, which he immediately told me about, and which was not about a seat but it was just blah.”
Toto Wolff on Christian Horner’s recent comments regarding Lewis Hamilton:
“I just don’t know what drives the guy. We just don’t understand his thinking to come up with these things.”
“What happened is that Christian, through an agency that we work with, wanted to have Lewis’… pic.twitter.com/TgK8gXQoep
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) November 24, 2023
After a back-and-forth conversation in which Hamilton denied making the first move and claimed Horner was the one who did so, Red Bull clarified to the BBC that the “representative” in this issue was, in fact, the driver’s father, Anthony Hamilton. The story took on an interpersonal twist after this discovery.
Helmut Marko adds to the Lewis Hamilton drama with a shocking update
Amid the heated excitement in the Formula 1 paddock around Christian Horner’s disclosure of Lewis Hamilton’s potential move to Red Bull, the team’s adviser Helmut Marko has entered the picture with more specifics. Marko describes the important criteria that the famed British driver placed before considering a transfer to the Austrian outfit.
As per Marko, “Christian Horner told me about a message he received from Hamilton’s circle in January. It came across as a sanctioned move from Hamilton himself. The message talked about a precondition that Hamilton had set: he was only willing to drive for Red Bull if he was guaranteed the same equipment as Max Verstappen. As far as I could tell, Hamilton’s approach was quite serious.”
📰: Helmut Marko maintains that Lewis Hamilton authorized someone, reportedly his father Anthony, to contact Red Bull with specific conditions, including a request for the “same” car as Max Verstappen. Marko claims that Christian Horner informed him about a text message from… pic.twitter.com/moVqlMFHhE
— F1 Naija (@f1_naija) November 25, 2023
Hamilton, however, made it clear at the pre-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix media conferences that no such attempt had taken place. He makes it clear that their sole communication was one of greetings with no ulterior motives related to his job.
Red Bull insists they had no intention of recruiting two of these outstanding F1 drivers, despite the tempting idea of both competing under the same banner. Verstappen and Sergio Perez aided the team towards their success, and their overwhelming win in the Constructors’ title illustrates a strong team chemistry that Red Bull had no intention of disrupting.