Jeen Grievink
Thursday, July 20, 2023 3:45 PM – Last update: 3:45 PM
Lewis Hamilton has an expiring contract with Mercedes and there seems to be no progress in agreeing a new commitment. At the same time, Sergio Pérez is coming under increasing pressure at Red Bull Racing. Has ‘1+1=2’ ever crossed the mind of the Austrian racing team? “Then we would probably have to sell the factory”, is the response of Christian Horner.
The summer break hasn’t started yet, but silly season is already running at full speed. In fact, the first driver change has already taken place with the exit of Nyck de Vries and the return of Daniel Ricciardo. However, that only seems to be the starting shot, because there is already plenty of speculation about the next musical chairs. What will happen to Pérez and Charles Leclerc, among others? We both still have a contract until next season, but a lot has already been said and written about their future. And what about Hamilton, who still has not signed a new contract with Mercedes. Wouldn’t he be the perfect driver to really test Max Verstappen as a teammate? Horner was presented with this question in a media session.
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Red Bull initiates internal musical chairs towards 2024
Verstappen manages to deal with his teammates at Red Bull time and time again. Pérez cannot match the results of the Dutchman either. The pressure on the Mexican is therefore increasing. In recent weeks, Pérez has been quite disappointing in qualifying and Red Bull has already issued a warning by loaning its test and reserve driver, Ricciardo, to AlphaTauri for six months. If the Australian drives the roof off the roof in the junior formation, this could turn out to be disadvantageous for Pérez, provided he does not manage to get out of his dip in form. But what if Hamilton’s contract extension with Mercedes is not forthcoming, is he not an option for Red Bull?
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“It’s not something we’ve considered recently,” Horner said of the potential opportunity to bring Hamilton to Milton Keynes. In addition, there would be a major obstacle in the financial field. Horner does not think it is feasible for Red Bull to have two drivers of this caliber under contract at the same time. “To pay those two drivers (Hamilton and Verstappen, ed.) alone, we will probably have to sell the factory!”, he winks, referring to the fact that the seven-time and two-time world champions are by far the highest paid drivers on the grid.
Horner hopes Hamilton will stay for “many more years”.
Hamilton to Red Bull is therefore not a realistic scenario, but Horner hopes that his compatriot will remain active elsewhere in the paddock for a while. “Lewis is clearly a great driver. Hopefully he will stay for many years to come,” says the team boss, who has tried to bring Hamilton to Red Bull a few times in the past.
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Red Bull spoke to Hamilton in the past
“There have been a few times in the past where we’ve had some conversations about the possibility of joining Red Bull,” said Horner. “But that hasn’t been recently.”
