Red Bull boss Christian Horner has put an end to speculation of the team ever signing six-time F1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton.
With 35-year-old Lewis Hamilton reaching the end of his contract with Mercedes at the end of the 2020 season, speculation has been rife of a possible signing with Red Bull.
Horner came out explaining that the two major reasons for not being interested in signing Hamilton lay in that he does not fit the direction the team is going in and also the supposed $60 million per year salary he is looking for.
Horner pointed out that even with his achievements, the 35-year-old Lewis Hamilton was on his way out the door and Red Bull protege, 22-year-old Max Verstappen was the next-gen of drivers that would be taking over from Lewis.
He went on to explain that Red Bull’s vision was to “invest ” and nurture the up and coming generation of F1 superstars
.“He (Hamilton) wouldn’t fit into our program,” Christian Horner went on to say.
“We have Max. We have always taken the policy if investing in young talent, nurturing and developing that talent. Lewis doesn’t fit into that.”
When asked on whether he really believed that six-time World champion Hamilton would part ways with Mercedes when his contract ends, Horne went on to say:
“Two of the major seats are now filled. Logic would say that he’ll remain in his current team if they can agree terms,”
“All the automotive sector have got financial pressure at the moment, so when there’s redundancies being made I guess it’s difficult to justify record-breaking salaries.
“I would assume it will be a normal commercial negotiation between the driver and his team. Ferrari could be a possibility for him, how much is difficult for me to gauge.
“He seems happy in the environment he’s in. If it’s the most competitive environment, why would he want to change that for the sake of driving in a different colour? So I don’t subscribe to that theory.”
