Horner applauded deal between Hamilton and Mercedes: 'That backfired'

Christian Horner makes an unusual statement in conversation with the Daily Mail. The Red Bull Racing team boss reveals that Lewis Hamilton, in the period before his switch to Mercedes in 2013, had indicated that he would like to drive for Red Bull.

Hamilton will start his tenth season as a Mercedes driver in 2022, but according to Horner, this could have been very different. Indeed, the Red Bull team boss reveals that he had a 'couple of conversations' with Hamilton between 2010 and 2013. These would be about a possible switch to the energy drink giant.

"From 2010 to 2013, he [Hamilton] was very keen to come and drive for Red Bull. We had Sebastian [Vettel] at that time and to have had two alpha drivers wouldn't have made sense," Horner reveals. At the time, Niki Lauda was at the helm of Mercedes and he had a large sum of money ready for Hamilton's services.

Horner encouraged Lauda to bring Hamilton in. The Brit thought Hamilton would not be a major threat in the Mercedes. "It would be fair to say that backfired on me," Horner admits.