“I don’t know what drives him to come out with this”: Mercedes boss hits back at Lewis Hamilton comments made by Christian Horner

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has slammed Red Buli's Christian Horner for his claims about Lewis Hamilton's approach to the Austrian team.

Horner, in a recent interview with the Daily Mail, had claimed that Hamilton had approached the Austrian team for a possible seat. With Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen already signed, Red Bull had no vacancy and hence had to turn down the Mercedes driver.

The claim went viral and since then, the F1 world has been fervently discussing the topic. Lewis Hamilton recently refuted the claim made by Christian Horner and now Toto Wolff has done the same.

The Mercedes boss explained the incident, stating that it was Horner who had wanted to reach out to Lewis Hamilton. Wolff said (as quoted by SpeedCafe):

“I just don’t know what drives the guy. We just don’t understand his thinking to come up with these things. What happened is that Christian, through an agency that we work with, wanted to have Lewis’ contact details to speak about the seat. That’s how the whole thing went.”

He added:

“It was Christian enquiring about Lewis’ availability. Lewis had an exchange with Christian, which he immediately told me about, and which was not about a seat but it was just blah. I don’t know what drives him to come out with this.”

Wolff also addressed Horner's comments on Sky Sports' A League of Their Own. On the show, the Red Bull boss said that Mercedes "f****d" Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021 by not pitting. Horner had also quipped that Toto Wolff was having a bad hair day and that's why he was so furious after the race.

Replying to these comments, the Mercedes boss said:

“You’ve won the season, be happy about it, humble, enjoy it. Don’t come out with comments about Abu Dhabi 2021, which are completely off the mark…(sighs)… Character question. I just wonder what’s going on up there.”

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What had Red Bull boss Christian Horner claimed about Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton?

A few days ago, in an interview with the Daily Mail, Christian Horner claimed that Lewis Hamilton had reached out to Red Bull a few times, with the most recent approach coming this season. He said:

"We have had several conversations over the years about Lewis joining. They have reached out a few times. Most recently, earlier in the year, there was an inquiry about whether there would be any interest."

While the media back-and-forth continues and both sides remain steadfast in their claims, we may never find out what really happened between the two parties. However, it does make the end of the season a bit more spicy.