"We gave Lauda massive support" - Helmut Marko reveals Red Bull's 'tactical mistake' that sent Lewis Hamilton over to Mercedes

Red Bull made a massive tactical mistake when they did not pursue a Lewis Hamilton partnership in 2013 and in turn, it led him to Mercedes.

In an interview with Motorsport-Total in 2018, Helmut Marko had revealed that Red Bull was in discussions with Lewis Hamilton much before he was involved with Mercedes in 2012. However, with no free space at Red Bull, the team opted to push Hamilton away from its biggest rival, McLaren, to a relatively new team in Mercedes.

Speaking about the tactical move made by Red Bull at the time, Helmut Marko said:

"Lewis was really unhappy at McLaren. We didn't have any free space. So we thought it's better if he goes to Mercedes. We gave Lauda massive support in recruiting Lewis. McLaren was our strongest opponent at the time. In retrospect, it would have been much better if he had stayed with McLaren. You can see how tactically you are sometimes wrong."

The fortunes of the two teams changed instantly in 2013 as McLaren regressed with an underwhelming challenger while Mercedes surged with a competitive car. The 2014 season was the year of a paradigm shift in F1. Mercedes dethroned Red Bull at the top and with Lewis Hamilton in the car, it had one of the best talents on the grid as well.

The Lewis Hamilton-Mercedes partnership went on an 8-year unbeaten constructors championship run from 2014 to 2021 and a 7-year drivers championship run from 2014 to 2020. Looking back, it might have been better for Red Bull if Lewis Hamilton had stayed in McLaren and not moved to Mercedes.

What if Lewis Hamilton had not moved to Mercedes?

It is an interesting question because if Hamilton had not signed with Mercedes, the second option was Nico Hulkenberg. For the 2014 F1 season, Mercedes could have had an all-German line-up of Nico Hulkenberg and Nico Rosberg.

This could have completely changed the landscape of the sport as the 2013 F1 season would have featured a Hamilton vs Vettel battle for the title and possibly an all-new world champion in 2014 at Mercedes.

It is surely one of the biggest "what ifs" of F1 because if Hamilton had not signed up with Mercedes in 2013, Nico Hulkenberg's career would have transformed and the F1 fraternity might even have looked at his career in a different light than what it does now (as a driver who has not even scored a podium in his career).