The revelation of Red Bull boss Christian Horner on Lewis Hamilton is apparently doing him more harm than good. Another backlash came when former Formula 1 driver Christijan Albers called his remarks “very unprofessional.”
Early on, Red Bull Team Principal and CEO Christian Horner revealed to the press that the camp of Lewis Hamilton “reached out” to them to inquire about a possible seat within the team. It wasn’t clear back then who he was referring to until he later clarified that it was Anthony Hamilton, Lewis’ father.
All these, Horner claimed, happened during the delayed contract negotiations of Mercedes F1 with the seven-time champion. It should be noted though that Hamilton, together with his teammate George Russell, already inked an extension with their current team for two more F1 seasons beyond this year.
Christijan Albers, who raced for Spyker F1 and an accomplished driver in DTM, criticized Horner for spilling the beans in an interview with De Telegraaf. He stated that whether Horner’s story occurred or not, it is “actually secretly not relevant at all.” According to him, what’s important is the professionalism that the Red Bull boss should project as a team member.
“If you have such a big team under your belt and you are team boss there with such good results, you don’t need this at all. I think it’s just not done. Long story short: I just find it very unprofessional,” the former racer commented.
Albers said Horner should have kept quiet about the affair because other drivers, especially from high-profile teams like Mercedes and Ferrari, would now be hesitant to communicate with other teams.
Meanwhile, Hamilton previously denied Horner’s claim. However, Mercedes F1 Team Principal and CEO Toto Wolff fired out at his contemporary from Red Bull.
“I just don’t know what drives the guy. We just don’t understand his thinking to come up with these things,” Wolff responded.
Wolff also disclosed another version of the story where it was actually Horner who asked an agency connected with Mercedes F1 for Hamilton’s details.