Horner defiant about Hamilton approach amid conflicting claims and denials

Horner’s bombshell revelation in an interview with the Daily Mail that was published in the build up to this weekend’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix spiced up the final media day of 2023. 

The Red Bull chief was directly quoted as saying that Hamilton had reached out to the team prior to signing a new two-year contract extension with Mercedes in August. 

Hamilton rejected Horner’s claims on Thursday but Horner has since stood by his comments, insisting that a representative of the seven-time world champion’s “management group” contacted Red Bull. 

“They were just expressing interest,” Horner told RaceFans. “But that’s not unusual, let’s put it that way.”

He added: “Maybe it’s slightly awkward for Lewis, obviously, with his own team. It’s not unusual for people to reach out.

“I’m not going to go into the details of the where, who and why, but perhaps they wouldn’t be doing their job if they didn’t.

“I’d be rather surprised if they hadn’t informed Lewis but you never know how managements work with different athletes.”

Hamilton moved to shoot down Horner’s side of the story, claiming: "No, I didn't approach them… Christian messaged me. 

"I've checked with everyone in my team, and no one has spoken to them. But they have tried to reach out to us.

“I picked up my old phone, which I just found at home, that had my old number on it.

"I switched it on and obviously hundreds of messages came through and I realised there was one from Christian to get together and have a chat at the end of the season…

"I just replied to him on my new phone. It was after a weekend. It was quite late on that I found the message. It was from earlier on in the year. So, it was like months later.”

Hamilton added: "There's a lot of people here that like to drop my name in many conversations because they know it's going to make waves. 

"If you're a little bit lonely and aren't getting much attention, it's a perfect thing to do. Just mention my name.”