Red Bull advisor Dr Helmut Marko has explained why Lewis Hamilton will never be signed by the Austrians, at least whilst Max Verstappen is still leading the team.
Hamilton has recently been linked to Red Bull following recent comments made by team principal Christian Horner, ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix last weekend.
Ahead of the season finale, Marko told the Daily Mail that earlier this year a representative of the seven-time World Champion’s contacted him, in regard to a potential switch.
It was later discovered that the individual who approached Horner wasn’t actually part of Hamilton’s management team.
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Hamilton’s father, Anthony, was the person who contacted Horner; however, he’s not been part of his son’s management squad since 2010.
Nevertheless, Horner’s comments led to Verstappen being asked if he’d like Hamilton alongside him, something he failed to truly answer.
The three-time World Champion didn’t see the point in answering the question as he knows it’ll simply never happen, something Marko agrees with.
Marko doesn’t see Verstappen and Hamilton working as a partnership, with the 80-year-old admitting that what happened to the Dutchman at the 2021 British Grand Prix still runs “too deep”.
At the British GP two years ago, Hamilton collided with Verstappen on the opening lap at Copse Corner, sending the Red Bull driver into the barrier at 160 mph.
Unsurprisingly, the 26-year-old was taken to hospital after the crash, which measured at a staggering 51G.
Emotions ran very high on that day at the Silverstone International Circuit, especially as Hamilton overcome a 10-second time penalty to claim victory in front of his home fans.
Because of what happened, Marko doesn’t see Hamilton and Verstappen working well together.
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“But Verstappen and Hamilton in one team are not going to work. What happened at Verstappen in 2021 is still too deep for that,” Marko told OE24.
Another issue of having the two highest-paid drivers on the grid as team-mates is that they’d both want to be the number one driver, a role Verstappen has held at Red Bull arguably since Daniel Ricciardo departed at the end of 2018.
Hamilton would never accept a number two position, which is why he’s expected to see out the remainder of his F1 career with Mercedes.