$125 Million Reason Why Helmut Marko Claims Red Bull Will Never Partner Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen

Lewis Hamilton recently found himself once again embroiled in a saga when Red Bull team principal Christian Horner surprisingly revealed that the Briton’s entourage had approached him regarding building a dream team with him and Max Verstappen. Hamilton denied the same by stating that it were Red Bull who had approached him. Now, Red Bull’s advisor Helmut Marko has finally put the debate to rest with a $125 million excuse.

Marko told Motorsport.com (as quoted by GPBlog.com), “Christian informed me and showed me the text message he received, but I told him: ‘Hamilton and Max, that doesn’t work. And on the other hand, we cannot afford to have the two most expensive drivers in one team. It’s just never going to happen. So I told Christian: ‘No way.’.”

The cost of having both Hamilton and Verstappen on the same team would actually cost a bomb. In 2023, Verstappen earned a $70 million paycheck from Red Bull whilst Hamilton bagged $55 million in terms of his salary from Mercedes. Hence, the two combined would cost any team around $125 million.

Meanwhile, Sergio Perez earns $26 million, which is less than half of what Hamilton earns. Anyway, with the seven-time world champion’s latest Mercedes contract, he is likely to have received another substantial pay rise.

Christian Horner recently claimed Lewis Hamilton contacted him for an opportunity at Red Bull

As the 2023 season came to a conclusion at the Abu Dhabi GP, one final drama was left to unravel. With a long off-season on the horizon, both Christian Horner and Lewis Hamilton gave the fans a lot to talk about with their contradicting ‘contract negotiation’ stories.

While Horner claimed that Hamilton’s team had approached him about a possible seat alongside Max Verstappen, the Briton vehemently denied those claims. He told Sky Sports F1, “I don’t really understand what he’s been talking about because no one as far as I’m aware, from my team have spoken to him. I haven’t spoken to Christian really in years.”

Hamilton has made his intentions pretty clear. The 38-year-old wants to see his Formula 1 career out with the Silver Arrows. He is adamant that he wants to win at least one more title with the team.