London, Nov 23: Lewis Hamilton has denied claims he approached Red Bull about a move there earlier this year.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner told the Daily Mail there had been “an inquiry” from Hamilton.
Hamilton said he “did not” contact Red Bull and Horner had reached out to him suggesting an end-of-season meeting.“I have checked with everyone on my team [of representatives] and no-one has spoken to them, but they have tried to reach out to us,” Hamilton said.The 38-year-old’s Mercedes contract was set to expire at the end of this season before he signed a new two-year deal in August after protracted negotiations.
Horner said in an interview: “We have had several conversations over the years about Lewis joining. They have reached out a few times. Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest.”
Hamilton said: “Basically, I picked up my old phone that I had just found at home that had my old number on it. I switched it on and obviously hundreds of messages came through. And I realised there was one from Christian to get together and have a chat at the end of the season.”The seven-time champion added: “Initially, I just replied on my new phone. It was after a weekend. It was quite late on I found the message. It was from earlier on in the year. It was, like, months later, and I just said ‘Congratulations on the amazing season and I hope we are able to compete with you soon’, and he replied repeating the same thing.”Asked whether he thought it was strange for Horner to be talking about his contractual situation, Hamilton said: “Not really. If you really think about it, there are a lot of people here who really like to drop my name in conversations because they know it is going to make waves.“And if you are a little bit lonely and are not getting much attention that is the perfect thing to do, just mention my name.”
Questioned about the discrepancy between the two versions of events, a Red Bull spokesperson said Hamilton’s father was the one who made contact with Horner.Hamilton said he had reassured his team principal Toto Wolff when the story broke this week that it was not true.“I did tell Toto,” he said. “Especially when the story broke because I have so much respect for Toto, we have a great relationship.
“Also I want my team to know because people think those things and it’s never positive.” Hamilton was asked whether he would like to compete against Red Bull’s three-time world champion Max Verstappen in the same team.
He replied: “I would be more than happy to race against Max in the same car. It would be wonderful. I don’t think he wants me to be his team-mate.”
Asked the same question, Verstappen said: “What would it add to know? It’s not happening. There is no point to make up stories if, if – it’s not happening. (Agencies)
