Christian Horner has made the bombshell claim that he rejected an offer to become Mercedes team principal before Toto Wolff landed the job in 2013. The 52-year-old oversaw a period of dominance at Red Bull, helping guide the team to six constructors’ titles and eight driver world championships. Horner initially enjoyed success while working with Sebastian Vettel, who won four consecutive world titles between 2010 and 2013. In his later years at Red Bull, Horner helped Max Verstappen overcome rival Lewis Hamilton on his path to four world championships. However, the ex-Red Bull chief’s career could have looked markedly different if he had accepted a proposal from Mercedes, having seemingly been ahead of Wolff in Niki Lauda’s plans for the team.

Horner has previously admitted to encouraging Mercedes to snap up Hamilton from McLaren, who were close to challenging Red Bull and Vettel’s dominance. In his new book, Drive, which is set to be released on Thursday, October 22, Horner recalled how a thumbs-up from Lauda after the Singapore Grand Prix in 2012 indicated that Mercedes had signed Hamilton, before receiving an offer to work alongside the British driver.

“At that point, Sebastian was at the peak of his powers and Red Bull were in the ascendancy,” Horner said, explaining his decision. “‘Niki, I’ve been winning World Championships with Red Bull,’ I said. ‘I’ve built everything from scratch. I feel a loyalty to Dietrich and the team. So as much as I appreciate this, I’m not going to join Mercedes.’

Although Red Bill enjoyed success that year, Wolff and Mercedes were soon in the ascendancy, with the Austrian helping guide the team to eight consecutive constructors’ championships and seven driver titles. Meanwhile, Horner came to regret pushing Lauda to sign Hamilton as the driver claimed six of seven world championships from 2014 until 2020.