JOHNNY HERBERT has claimed he “doesn’t listen” to Christian Horner as he responded to the claim that Lewis Hamilton could join Red Bull.
Red Bull team principal Horner claimed ahead of last weekend’s season-finale in Abu Dhabi that a member of the Brit’s entourage had reached out to him regarding a sensational switch.
That was later alleged to be the Mercedes star’s father and came amid mounting pressure on Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
The Mexican driver enjoyed two wins in the opening four rounds but did not enjoy another victory all term as his form plummeted after the summer break.
That led to speculation over his future as the second seat driver behind Max Verstappen.
Horner’s claims soon hit the headlines, but Hamilton slammed those comments in Abu Dhabi and denied all knowledge.
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Now F1 legend Herbert has waded into the talk of Hamilton becoming a team-mate of his bitter rival Verstappen and said he would be very surprised if Horner’s claims were true.
Speaking to Genting Casino, Herbert said: “I don’t think anybody was really aware of that, I think a lot of people were saying ‘Well that would be the possible right pairing to have’ because obviously in a situation like Lewis was in at Mercedes.
“I think Lewis is very aware, and you mentioned it earlier, Lewis is after the eighth. Now he knows how good Max is, he knows it’s Max’s team, he knows that when he’s been winning the championships that he’s got, generally, he's been the man of that team.
“And you go, Ayrton Senna, Michael Schumacher, Alain Prost, Nicky Lauder, Nigel Mansell, the list goes on, they were the leaders of those teams. And the way you win world championships is to be the leader of the team.”
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Herbert continued: “Going into Red Bull, that I don’t think would ever be the case, and I think he’s very aware of that. I’d be very surprised if there was any contact from Lewis’ side and him not knowing that they were doing it if that was the case
“He would’ve been very aware. But it is, however people want to take this, very Christian. There’s a lot of things, I don’t really listen to Christian sometimes, and I think that probably was one of them.”
Seven-time champ Hamilton ended the season in a frustrating fashion but still finished in P3 in the Drivers’ Championship.
He remains contracted for another two seasons with the Silver Arrows.
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