"No, I don't think that's happening" - Max Verstappen shuts down suggestion of a possible Lewis Hamilton to Red Bull move

Max Verstappen recently denied the possibility of Lewis Hamilton joining Red Bull in the future. Ever since the end of the 2022 F1 season, there have been huge question marks over the Briton's future with the Silver Arrows, partially since the Mercedes W13 was one of the slowest cars the team had ever made and partially due to his contract approaching its end.

Hence, everyone, including F1 pundits and presenters like Ted Kravitz, is speculating on every single possibility of Lewis Hamilton's future. He could not help but ask Max Verstappen whether the seven-time world champion could join Red Bull next season. He asked:

“Could Lewis come to Red Bull?”

The Dutchman simply said no and laughed:

“Erm, no I don’t think that’s happening!”

Of course, the idea of Lewis Hamilton joining Red Bull is bizarre to imagine, especially after the intense battle between Verstappen and himself in the 2021 F1 season. If Hamilton were to join the reigning world champions, it is almost certain that Sergio Perez would be removed from the seat.

The driver pairing of the Briton and Max Verstappen will definitely be a negative for the team, as both would want to win the world championship and will constantly fight each other on the track, which could hamper the overall team performance.

Christian Horner himself stated that there is no room for the seven-time world champion at Red Bull, as they already have a good driver pairing.

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Lewis Hamilton brushes off rumors of him leaving Mercedes

There have been several rumors circulating in the media that Lewis Hamilton could move to Ferrari and that the Italian team has made an offer for the driver. However, the man himself recently explained how these rumors might be popping up simply because the media was bored of the two-week break in F1.

He later assured that his team is working closely with Toto Wolff to finalize the contract. Meanwhile, he is solely focusing on keeping himself ready for the next race. While attending the drivers' press conference before the Monaco GP, he said:

"Well, there’s a certain individual in this room who’s written at least one of them! But yeah, I don't know. I think maybe with last weekend, with the race been cancelled, maybe they just got bored and started to… ha! But I think, as I said, my team’s working closely behind the scenes with Toto, we're almost at the end of having a contract ready."

The Mercedes driver added:

"So, having a team focus on that, so I can just do my job, that's a much better position than I was in before, because I remember I used to do all my negotiations on my own, and it was very stressful. So, I don't have to do that anymore."

Even the Ferrari team principal, Frederic Vasseur, debunked rumors about the team offering Lewis Hamilton a contract for the 2024 F1 season. Hence, it is mostly clear that the Briton will remain with the Silver Arrows.