Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed he was one of the biggest advocates for Lewis Hamilton joining Mercedes in 2013.
Having grown frustrated, the Briton made what at the time was considered a bold move to leave McLaren, the team he had associated with throughout his career, to replace Michael Schumacher at Mercedes.
Bold because the German manufacturer was no way near the dominant force they are today, instead, their focus was on building up the team that was Brawn GP in 2009.
“Lewis was really unhappy at McLaren and here [at Red Bull] there was no space left,” Marko recalled to Motorsport-Total.
“So we thought it’s better if he goes to Mercedes and we were massively supporting [Niki] Lauda in the recruitment of Lewis.”
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The Austrian triple world champion, who sadly passed earlier this year, was seen as crucial to attracting Hamilton, who had reportedly spoken with Red Bull before making his eventual choice.
Of course, now, six years on, the move has been totally justified with Mercedes becoming the standard-bearers of the V6 hybrid era since 2014, with the 34-year-old now on course to win his fifth title in six years, adding to his first crown in 2008.
So why did Marko want Hamilton at Mercedes?
“McLaren was our strongest opponent back in the day and in hindsight, it would have been much better if he stayed with McLaren and you see how tactically sometimes you are wrong,” the Austrian concluded.