ABU DHABI — Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton has denied Christian Horner’s claim that he contacted Red Bull earlier this year about the possibility of driving for the world champions.
A story in the Daily Mail quoted Horner saying an unnamed person from Hamilton’s management had reached out about the possibility of the seven-time world champion joining Red Bull as Max Verstappen’s teammate.
Hamilton signed a two-year deal to remain at Mercedes in August while Verstappen went on to secure his third world title in October.
“We have had several conversations over the years about Lewis joining,” Horner told the Daily Mail. “They have reached out a few times. Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest.”
Asked if there was any truth to the story ahead of this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Hamilton told reporters: “I’ve checked with everyone in my team and no-one has spoken to them. But they have tried to reach out to us.”
Hamilton went on to explain how he missed a message from Horner earlier this year.
“Basically, I picked up my old phone, which had my old number on it,” Hamilton said. “I switched it on and obviously hundreds of messages came through and I realised there was one from Christian [asking] to get together and have a chat at the end of the season.
“Initially, I just replied to him on my new phone, it was after a [race] weekend, it was quite late on when I found the message, but it was from earlier in the year, so it was months later. I just said congratulations on the amazing season and I hope we are able to compete with you soon. Then he replied repeating the same thing.”
Horner also claimed Hamilton held talks with Ferrari via its chairman John Elkann and suggested he may have spoken with team principal Fred Vasseur too.
“I know John really well,” Hamilton said. “We met years ago in the Google camp. I went to a Google camp in Sicily, and that’s when our friendship started and we’ve always remained in touch.
“I’ve known Fred since 2005, and we’ve always had a really great relationship. We’d talk often since he’s been in Formula One.
“Because after I left his team, we would talk all the time obviously when I was in his team, then I came to Formula One, and…
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