The Red Bull boss says Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari was a surprise, but he thinks the new team has something Mercedes doesn’t have.
The seven-time world champion decided to turn his successful career around. From next year, the Briton will become the driver of the most famous team in the history of Formula 1.
Hamilton shocked the motorsport world with this move because his association with the Silver Arrows dates back to 2013, when he moved from McLaren to the German team.
But the bond between him and the Mercedes boss was thought to be unbreakable as they were inseparable in their intentions, which resulted in one of the most dominant eras.
But the British driver could not agree on a contract extension as he had imagined. He asked for a multi-year extension and the possibility of a role to become a Mercedes ambassador.
Last year there was friction over the extension of the contract. Information came from the Silver Arrows camp that it was a question of when the agreement would be signed.
Such a thing happened. Hamilton signed a two-year contract with a clause that he could leave after just one season. That’s exactly what Lewis did, with the fact that he went towards his biggest rivals.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was also surprised by this development. He thinks that apparently the 39-year-old has found something in the Italian team that he doesn’t have in Mercedes.
“I think everyone was surprised – even his current team – about Lewis moving to Ferrari,” Horner said at the launch of Red Bull’s RB20 car.
“But apparently he saw something there that he believes in, which serves him better than staying where he is,” he emphasized.
“It is clear that he still has a season to go with his current team, but he has proven in the past that he is not afraid to make bold decisions,” he explains.
“His move from McLaren to Mercedes, for all intents and purposes, didn’t seem right at the time, but it turned out to be inspired. So I’m sure he’ll think long and hard about it for Formula 1 as well.”
“The Hamilton-Ferrari relationship is quite exciting,” added Christian Horner.
