Lewis Hamilton and Red Bull

Lewis Hamilton sparked fresh rumours linking him to a drive at Red Bull this week after he arranged a private meeting with Christian Horner during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Their fifteen minute discussion in the Red Bull motorhome led to predictable speculation that Hamilton is looking to join the reigning World Champions alongside Sebastian Vettel when his current contract ends at the beginning of 2013.

Although there is no serious indication that Hamilton is about to leave McLaren, it does seem odd that he should be meeting with rival team bosses.

Lewis played down the rumours, saying “In terms of where I am, again I’m just very fortunate to be a part of McLaren. It’s one of the best teams there with great history and we’ve now got a car which is capable of winning, as my teammate showed at the weekend. We are the only other team that has won grands prix this year so I don’t see why you’d particularly want to move when you have the most competitive car. So as long as we have the car that can do the job, then there will be no reason to leave.”

In reality, there’s little reason to suggest that Lewis is hiding something.

The fact that Hamilton was so public about meeting Christian Horner suggests that he was merely trying to make a point. Speculation that links him to Red Bull is good for his market value and he could be using that to leverage more money out of a contract extension at McLaren. If he was seriously looking to join Red Bull he could’ve easily started negotiations more discreetly.

Besides, it makes little sense for Lewis to move away from McLaren, or for Red Bull to sign him.

Hamilton currently enjoys the benefits of having a full Grand Prix team built around him, something that few drivers in Formula One will ever experience. Although McLaren bosses provide the exact same equipment to Jenson Button, Lewis has been part of their family for thirteen years and, if he wants to, will represent the team’s long term future. He is more than just another employee and it might not be wise to leave that environment to join a different team built around someone else.

It’s also worth remembering the Formula One regulations will change dramatically in 2013. For that reason, there is some benefit to racing with one of the larger more experienced outfits who have the resources to cope with widespread changes. McLaren engineers have proven in recent years how quickly they can develop a car, and how innovative their designs can be, and that makes the team one of the best to sign for during a period of technical upheaval. Red Bull has the fastest car today, but there is no guarantee it will still be fast when the new regulations take effect.

Red Bull would also have little motivation for signing Lewis Hamilton.

In Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull has one of the fastest and most talented drivers in the world. They are currently building the team around the 23 year old World Champion in an effort to remain competitive long into the future. Introducing Lewis Hamilton into that mix could turn out to be counter-productive. Not only would he detract valuable resources from Vettel, but he would steal championship points from him as well.

Mark Webber is the perfect number two driver for Red Bull, and although he hasn’t been so strong in 2011, he is still quick enough to keep Vettel honest and steal points of the team’s main rivals. There were a few occasions last year when Mark was notably quicker than Vettel, but in general, Webber’s position in the team works perfectly for Red Bull. Ferrari proved for many years the best way to win the World Championship is to focus your attention on just one driver. Red Bull, and any others wanting to emulate Ferrari’s success, should do the same.

Although a Vettel-Hamilton line up would create a team jam packed full of driving talent, it could also prove problematic and that isn’t a risk Red Bull need to take whilst they’re on top of the world.

It doesn’t seem likely that Lewis will switch to Red Bull in 2013, but it is plausible that he will leave McLaren at some point in the future. It could be five years away, or even more, but there is little doubt he will look to switch teams at some point.

There have been numerous occasions in the past when Hamilton has publicly shown his frustration with McLaren, and it’s not inconceivable that one day those will come to a head.

Driver management has never been a McLaren strong point, particularly in the Ron Dennis era, and this evidently frustrated Lewis from the start of his time with the team. In just his fifth Grand Prix, Hamilton let it be known that he thought McLaren’s strategists sabotaged his attempt to beat Fernando Alonso at Monaco. Just six races later, he disobeyed orders from the pitlane during qualifying, during which he had a heated argument with Ron Dennis over the radio.

That doesn’t mean Lewis was unhappy at McLaren, but it does suggest he was prepared to put his own interests ahead of the team.

The Canadian Grand Prix was a more recent example of Hamilton’s frustrations at McLaren being clear to see.  He was reportedly upset on Saturday that the team had not brought the optimum aerodynamic package to Montreal, and that his car had not been ideally geared for qualifying. His annoyance was clear after the race when his engineers asked him to stop his car on the circuit with broken suspension. He petulantly told reporters that he thought it was wrong to stop on the track because he could only find a problem with the tyre, and that his rear suspension was fine. As it turned out, the wishbone was broken in addition to other damage so McLaren made the right call, and it would be understandable if they were upset that Lewis had publicly questioned their judgement.

Also, Hamilton would surely have been upset about being pushed into the wall by his teammate (innocently or otherwise) and later having to tell stewards that Button had done absolutely nothing wrong.

Hamilton is highly competitive and will understandably be frustrated when things don’t work out in his favour. The same can be said for any Formula One driver, and it isn’t a criticism of his character. The occasional outburst is not a sign that Lewis is unhappy at McLaren.

However, it does indicate that Hamilton’s relationship with the team isn’t a perfect marriage. At the moment his career is completely defined by his time at McLaren, and whilst it might be unthinkable that he would look elsewhere, he will surely do so if he feels it’s in his best interests.

Lewis has contemplated leaving McLaren in the past, and even took steps to try and make it happen. In 2004 when he finished fifth in the Formula Three Euroseries, McLaren asked him to spend another year in the championship before paying his way into GP2. Hamilton and his father were hoping to move through the ranks quicker, and tried joining another team in their efforts to advance from Formula Three.

This would have been a very surprising move from a young driver who was having his early career nurtured by one of the very top Formula One teams.

A similarly surprising move might be on the cards in the future.

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