Red Bull chief reveals instant 6-word reply when Horner shared Hamilton approach

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Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has now revealed his immediate six-word response to Christian Horner when he shared an approach over Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.

Marko states that Horner showed him a text message from Anthony Hamilton, the father of seven-time F1 champion Hamilton. The message suggested that Red Bull should speak with the 38-year-old about a switch for 2024. Hamilton was due to be out of contract this winter.

Hamilton eventually elected to stay at Mercedes and signed an extension through the 2025 season in August. The Silver Arrows also tied George Russell down through the end of 2025. Red Bull have Max Verstappen under contract through 2028 and Sergio Perez through 2024.

Christian Horner revealed Anthony Hamilton’s approach over Lewis Hamilton’s future

Yet despite Red Bull not having a seat free for Hamilton to get, Horner told Sky Sports at the Abu Dhabi GP that his father made an approach to discuss Perez’s seat. His admission came after Mercedes driver Hamilton denied making any contact with Red Bull over a move there.

Instead, Hamilton suggested it was Horner who made the approach after the Formula 1 icon got a text from the Red Bull team principal. But Horner doubled down and said that Anthony Hamilton made the first approach, despite him not officially representing his son since 2010.

Helmut Marko explains why Lewis Hamilton would never join Red Bull from Mercedes

Marko has now revealed that after initially questioning the idea of Hamilton and Verstappen sharing the Red Bull garage, he hastily gave Horner a six-word reply to seeing the text from the Mercedes hero’s dad. Although Horner then texting Hamilton suggests he did not listen.

“Christian informed me and showed me the text message he received,” Marko explained to Motorsport.com. “But I told him, ‘Hamilton and Max? That doesn’t work’.”

Marko went on to tell Horner that there would be ‘no way’ for Hamilton and Verstappen to both drive for Red Bull. The Austrian feels there is still too much lingering ‘tension’ between them from their title fight in 2021. The two drivers would also prove too expensive together.

“There was too much action and how should I say, in 2021, tension. And on the other hand, we cannot afford to have the two most expensive drivers in one team. It’s just never going to happen. So, I told Christian, ‘No way’.”

According to Forbes, Hamilton’s new contract with Mercedes through the 2025 F1 season is worth $55m-a-year (£44m). He is the best-paid driver on the grid in terms of their base pay. Verstappen ranks second at $45m-a-year (£36m) but can receive $25m (£20m) in bonuses.