Christian Horner and Red Bull may have been the top team in Formula 1 at the start of the 2010s, but McLaren and Lewis Hamilton were always there to keep them honest.
Red Bull’s run of four straight titles with Sebastian Vettel between 2010 and 2013 was marked by especially dominant campaigns in both 2011 and 2013. Meanwhile, Fernando Alonso came close twice with Ferrari in 2010 and 2012 but fell short each time.
Following his first championship win in 2008, Hamilton ran into reliability problems at McLaren. He added just 12 more wins after that title year, with fourth place finishes in both the 2010 and 2012 seasons being his best results during that period.
The situation reached a point where Hamilton called his McLaren car ‘awful’ as he began to look beyond the team. His move to Mercedes in 2013 was a major surprise at the time, and Horner had a hand in making it happen.
Christian Horner’s role in Lewis Hamilton’s move to Mercedes
According to Christian Horner, Hamilton was eager to join the team, but there wasn’t a spot for him while Vettel was their main driver.
“He was desperate to drive for the team,” Horner told F1 Racing magazine, via quotes from ESPN.
“In 2012, he wanted to come and drive for us, but there was no way we could accommodate him while Sebastian was with us. Then before he signed for Mercedes he was very keen to drive for Red Bull for 2013.”
The move initially raised eyebrows since Mercedes hadn’t achieved much success since rejoining the grid in 2010. Even so, according to Horner, one of his motivations wasn’t just about helping Hamilton—he also saw it as a way to take away from McLaren’s strength at the time.
He explained that he viewed McLaren as a bigger immediate threat than Mercedes and believed that moving Hamilton would help Red Bull maintain its edge.
But what Horner couldn’t have foreseen at the time were the changes brewing within Mercedes. The following year brought new technical regulations and an engine formula shift that turned Brackley into the sport’s dominant force.
MORE RED BULL: Sebastian Vettel’s historic F1 career – his titles, wins and when he retired
Lewis Hamilton shut down a move to Red Bull back in 2023 after Christian Horner approach
Red Bull were interested in signing Lewis Hamilton before the 2024 season, as his Mercedes contract was set to expire.
Hamilton responded to the speculation by extending his contract with Mercedes. But he then surprised everyone by announcing that he would join Ferrari for 2025 and beyond, before the start of the 2024 season.
“I’ve not approached Christian; I haven’t spoken to Christian for years and no one from my team has,” Hamilton told F1’s official website in Abu Dhabi last year.
“I’ve checked with everyone, no one from my team has reached out to him. However, he had reached out to me about meeting up at the end of the season.
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“And I was like, ‘I hope you are well; I wish you all the best, congratulations on an amazing season so far, and I hope that I am able to compete with you in the near future.’”
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