After backlash from Lewis Hamilton, Red Bull boss Christian Horner has claimed that it was the Mercedes driver's father who had reached out to him. Horner had captured everyone's attention with his interview to the Daily Mail. In the interview, he claimed that there had been conversations with Hamilton over the years.
The surprising part of that interview was the Red Bull boss claiming that Lewis Hamilton had reached out as recently as this season when he was looking to sign an extension with Mercedes. These comments have led to a backlash from both Hamilton and Mercedes chief Toto Wolff.
Lewis Hamilton dismissed any suggestion that he had reached out to Red Bull to be a teammate of Max Verstappen. Even Toto Wolff had a few choice words for Horner.
Talking to Sky Sports, however, Horner revealed that he had been reached out by Lewis Hamilton's father Anthony Hamilton in a conversation over Sergio Perez's seat.
"I had an exchange. Anthony [Hamilton]’s a nice guy. He reached out, I think, I can’t remember, regarding around Sergio, and just asked an enquiring and suggestive question," claimed Horner. "I don’t know what role Anthony plays in Lewis’ setup or management, but he’s got some form of relationship. I don’t think he was enquiring about himself to come and drive!"
He's just stirring things: Lewis Hamilton on Red Bull chief's claims
When the claims were put forward to Lewis Hamilton, he refuted all of them and said he had not reached out to the Red Bull boss for a seat within the team.
Talking to Sky Sports, the seven-time F1 world champion said:
“I know [the story] has come from Christian. I don’t really understand what he’s been talking about because no one, as far as I’m aware, from my team has spoken to him. I haven’t spoken to Christian in years.”
"However, he [Christian Horner] did reach out to me [Hamilton] earlier on in the year about meeting up, but that's it. I just congratulated them on an amazing year and said, 'hopefully soon, I'll be able to fight against you guys in the near future.' That was it. So I'm not really sure, I think he's just stirring things," he added.
Overall, there's been a lot of back and forth between the two. It's safe to say that this is not the end as Hamilton would be consequently questioned if his father Anthony had reached out to Horner earlier in the season.
Watch this space as the last race weekend continues to provide a lot more than what many would have thought.