Lewis Hamilton rejected Christian Horner’s claim that the Briton inquired earlier this year about the availability of a seat at Red Bull, insisting it was Horner who texted him first.
Speaking to the Daily Mail ahead of F1’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Horner revealed that Hamilton’s management had approached Red Bull “earlier in the year”, but no follow-up was obviously given.
“They have reached out a few times,” Horner said. “Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest."
Last summer, in August, Mercedes and Hamilton announced that they had finally agreed on a two-year contract extension that will see the seven-time world champion remain with the Brackley squad until the end of 2025.
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On Thursday at Yas Marina, Hamilton rejected Horner’s claim and offered a very different version of events.
"No, I didn't approach them… Christian messaged me,” said the Mercedes driver.
"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 then explained that Horner had sent him a message at an old phone number, with the text retrieved by the Briton only just recently.
"I picked up my old phone, which I just found at home, that had my old number on it,” he explained.
"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…
"I just replied to him on my new phone. It was after a weekend. It was quite late on that I found the message. It was from earlier on in the year. So, it was like months later."
Hamilton said Horner gave no indication on why thepair should meet. But he replied to congratulate Red Bull on its championship winning season, and conveyed his hope that Mercedes would be able to fight its rival in 2024.
"There's a lot of people here that like to drop my name in many conversations because they know it's going to make waves," Hamilton commented.
"If you're a little bit lonely and aren't getting much attention, it's a perfect thing to do. Just mention my name."
Hamilton said that he kept Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff informed of his communication with Horner.
"I did tell Toto, especially when the story broke,” he said. "Also, I wanted my team to know because people think those things and it's never a positive."
Finally, in response to Horner’s suggestion that a Verstappen-Hamilton line-up “wouldn’t be right” in terms of the team’s dynamic, Hamilton said that he would have no issues racing alongside the Dutchman.
"I'd be more than happy to race against Max in the same car,” he said. “That would be wonderful. I don't think he wants me to be his team-mate."
Submitted with Hamilton’s rebuttal, Horner stood by his initial comments.
“They were just expressing interest,” Horner said, quoted by RaceFans. “But that’s not unusual, let’s put it that way.”
“Maybe it’s slightly awkward for Lewis, obviously, with his own team. It’s not unusual for people to reach out.
“I’m not going to go into the details of the where, who and why, but perhaps they wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t.
“I’d be rather surprised if they hadn’t informed Lewis but you never know how managements work with different athletes.”
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