After committing his future to Mercedes, Lewis Hamilton took another dig at Red Bull over his legacy. The seven-time world champion reiterated that he would like to beat Red Bull and build up his own legacy at Mercedes.
Speaking about this, Hamilton said in a report published by FormulaPassion, “After two negative seasons, I think the prospect of redeeming myself by working on the car to beat the best car is better for what will be my legacy, to the category compared to winning by simply jumping into the best car.”
Lewis Hamilton denies Christian Horner’s claims about him approaching Red Bull:
“That’s completely untrue. It was Christian who contacted me at the beginning of the year”.
[@CanalplusF1]#F1 #AbuDhabiGPpic.twitter.com/bOqjG1TsoU
— Fastest Pitstop (@FastestPitStop) November 23, 2023
Hamilton’s recent remarks come after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner surprisingly claimed a few weeks back that the 38-year-old was keen on joining his side. Upon knowing this, F1 experts and fans believed that the Mercedes driver might have shown interest after repeated failures with the Silver Arrows.
Even though Max Verstappen did not mind having Hamilton as a teammate, it was not the case for the Briton. Hamilton categorically denied the claims of making any kind of approach to join Red Bull.
How Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes have been struggling off late?
For the first time in his career, Lewis Hamilton has spent two seasons without a win. His last win came all the way back at the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Since then, the best he has managed are podium finishes.
As for Mercedes, they were only able to claim one win in the last 44 races. The situation turned out so bad that Toto Wolff recently claimed that if Hamilton were to move to a different team in search of his eighth world championship, he will not be surprised.
Thanks for all the love this season. Til next year ~ pic.twitter.com/Ijg851dfzg
— Lewis Hamilton (@LewisHamilton) November 27, 2023
“If we cannot demonstrate that we are able to give him a car in the next couple of years then he will need to look everywhere. I don’t think he is doing it at this stage, but I will have no complaints if that happens in a year or two,” Wolff said in a report published by The Guardian.
Despite Wolff’s claims, Hamilton signed a two-year extension with Mercedes. This will see him stay on with the team till the end of the 2025 F1 season.
Therefore, it is fair to say that Hamilton still has hope that Wolff and the rest of the Mercedes team can turn things around in the coming seasons. The 38-year-old also recently visited Mercedes’ factory and gave positive feedback about the 2024 car.
