For days there has been disagreement in the Red Bull and Mercedes camps about how direct contact came about between the world champion team and Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton.
While the Red Bull side around team boss Christian Horner emphasized several times that they had been contacted from Hamilton’s environment, the Hamilton side insists on the version that the record world champion was contacted directly by Horner.
On Friday on site in Abu Dhabi, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was again upset about the alleged misrepresentation of his Red Bull colleague.
According to Toto Wolff, the fact that Lewis’ father Anthony Hamilton contacted the Red Bull website to have initial discussions about a possible collaboration is simply untrue.
“Anthony hasn’t been involved (with Lewis) since 2010. But you do wonder why such a story comes up in the last race. Not Helmut [Marko, Anm. d. Red.], because he is serious and ultimately makes the decision about the drivers. But the other one [Christian Horner, Anm. d. Red.] wanted to get some media attention by using Lewis’s name [Hamilton, Anm. d. Red.] calls. If he needs that, then he should do it,” Wolff shot again sharply at Horner, with whom he had clashed several times in the past.
The Austrian once again emphasized how transparent the relationship between him and Lewis Hamilton is: “I talk to Lewis all the time. Also about every single WhatsApp that he has received. Also about the ones where he was basically tested, what that looks like contractually. “
In late summer of this year, the seven-time world champion extended his contract with Mercedes for another two years until the end of 2025. There is said to have been direct contact with Red Bull beforehand.