Christian Horner revealed how Lewis Hamilton was very keen to join Red Bull during their heyday a decade ago, but instead, the team principal urged Mercedes to sign the Briton a decision, he admits, which backfired on him.
Now bitter enemies because Horner still heads up the Red Bull team and Hamilton drives for archrivals Mercedes, the advice Horner proffered Niki Lauda a dozen or so years ago proved to be invaluable as the Briton has since gone on to win six F1 world titles as a Silver Arrows driver.
Speaking to Sportsmail, Horner divulged: “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. We had Sebastian at that time and to have had two alpha drivers wouldn’t have made sense.”
At the time Red Bull were the dominant team with Vettel winning four titles from 2010 to and including 2013. Mercedes had started off with Michael Schumacher coaxed out of retirement and Nico Rosberg partnering to spearhead the German team’s return to F1.
Horner continued: “Niki Lauda was at Mercedes and was very keen to take Lewis and I remember encouraging him to take him. We were fighting McLaren and in 2012, they had the fastest car.
“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,” admitted Horner.
The Hamilton-Mercedes partnership is the most successful between team and driver in the sport’s history, Lewis synonymous with the tea and vice-versa. Hard to imagine him ever swapping.
Thus with 15 F1 world titles in eight years, denied a full-house by Max Verstappen’s 2021 championship win, Mercedes remain are the benchmark team, the one every other wants to beat.
Horner: The whole organisation gets used to winning and it’s like a drug. It’s addictive!
Horner explains the motivation the challenges bring: “The sense of achievement of beating this mighty machine of Mercedes with Lewis as a part of it, was huge.
“The whole organisation gets used to winning and it’s like a drug. It’s addictive. Then it’s the fear of failure. It ends up driving you because you want to experience that feeling again and again,” explained the Red Bull man.
While Hamilton, 37 years old now, may have slipped through their fingers, half a dozen years later Max Verstappen did not and now the pair are etching a unique legacy with their epic rivalry, among the greatest there has been in F1 history, their respective teams playing a huge role in their success.
Of their 24-year-old Dutch superstar who recently committed to a long-term deal with the team, Horner said: “We have huge confidence in Max, otherwise, we would never have committed to that time scale.
“To go to 2028 is almost unheard of in this sport, to commit to a driver for that period of time. He is a massive asset to us. He strongly believes in the team and it is down to us to provide him with the tools to get the job done.
“At some point, Lewis will slow down or he’ll stop and, of course, he is going to have a massive challenge with a very competitive young team-mate and hungry team-mate this year who is going to be one of the best drivers on the grid. George Russell is a phenomenal talent.
“In Max, we have looked to lock down what we believe will be the purple patch of his career. Having won this first world championship, it relieves an awful lot of pressure. That is in the bank now. It is on his CV.
“He will continue to grow now he has got that first one out of the way. We saw that with Sebastian Vettel,” recalled Horner.