According to Lewis Hamilton, he did not take the initiative to approach Red Bull for a race seat. Hamilton thus contradicts previous statements by Christian Horner.
The news that has captivated the F1 paddock is that Christian Horner revealed in conversation with the British ‘Daily Mail’ that Lewis Hamilton was approaching Red Bull for a race seat. However, at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, Hamilton denied what Christian Horner had said.
“No, I didn’t contact him… Christian sent me a message,” Hamilton said in Abu Dhabi. “I checked with everyone on my team and no one spoke to them. But they tried to approach us.”
According to Hamilton, Christian Horner sent him a message on his old mobile number, a message that he only recently found.
“I took my old mobile phone, which I found in the house and had my old SIM card and mobile number on it,” said Hamilton. “I turned it on and hundreds of messages came in and I realized there was a message from Christian to sit down and talk at the end of the season.”
“I answered him with my new phone. It was after a weekend. It was quite late that I discovered the message, it was from earlier in the year so it was months later.”
Hamilton said he did not know why Horner wanted to meet him but he responded with congratulations to Red Bull for winning the championship and expressed his hope that he could compete with Mercedes in 2024. According to Hamilton, it is also just ‘fun’ to mention his name and cause some commotion.
“There are a lot of people who like to mention my name during conversations because they know it will cause a commotion,” Hamilton said in response. “If you feel a bit alone and don’t get much attention, then that is the perfect thing to do. Just mention my name.”