Lewis Hamilton’s record-breaking partnership with Mercedes almost didn’t happen as his father Anthony initially approached Christian Horner about a move to Red Bull that would’ve seen Hamilton partner Sebastian Vettel in 2013.

But between the “staggering sums” involved and Helmut Marko being “unimpressed”, it didn’t happen with Hamilton instead moving to Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton almost joined Red Bull in 2013 before Mercedes deal changed F1 history

Hamilton entered Formula 1 in 2007 with McLaren, having joined the Woking team’s Young Driver Programme almost a decade earlier.

Hamilton fought for the world title in his debut season, but both he and Fernando Alonso were pipped to the crown by Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen in a season of in-fighting at McLaren.

Hamilton went on to lift the trophy a year later. That would be his only drivers’ title with McLaren.

After five years of falling short of the podium in the drivers’ championship, Hamilton’s father Anthony and his manager Simon Fuller put out feelers. One of those was to Red Bull with calls to then-Red Bull team principal Horner.

In his new autobiography, Drive, Horner claims Hamilton’s father Anthony first phoned him, before they had a “secret” meeting, that included Hamilton, at Adrian Newey’s house.

“Lewis Hamilton seemed to be losing heart at McLaren,” Horner wrote.

“From the outside, his relationship with Jenson Button looked strained, and his head was dropping after a series of mechanical failures throughout 2012. I occasionally bumped into him at races, and we were always friendly (despite his comment about Red Bull being just a drinks company), but I thought he seemed strangely vulnerable for a former world champion.

“Then, while checking my phone for missed calls and messages one day, I noticed his father’s number on the screen and wondered whether Lewis was experiencing a change of opinion regarding Red Bull.

“When a secret meeting was then called, with Lewis, at Adrian’s house near Ascot, my gut instinct was confirmed. He was looking to leave McLaren, and we were his preferred destination.

“‘What will it take to join you guys?’ he said, as we sat down.

“Adrian, who is not known for his poker face, looked ecstatic. I could hardly blame him. A driver pairing of Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton was a tantalising prospect.”

Horner, though, ran into two obstacles.

The first was finances, Horner calling it “staggering sums” given the team already had a world champion in Vettel on the payroll.

“[By 2012] Lewis had transformed into an iconic figure, having won four races during his 2007 debut season with McLaren,” Horner wrote.

“Five years on, he was an elite racer known for his explosive pace, and arguably one of the competition’s fastest ever drivers. He was the 2008 world champion, the winner of seventeen grands prix, and the holder of nineteen pole positions.

“As a driver, he was fantastic in the wet, fearless, and able to extract the absolute maximum from his car. He was also a commercial dream. Lewis was the face of countless billboard campaigns and TV adverts. Overall, he was just about the perfect challenger to Sebastian.

“Adrian, forever looking to improve the quality of drivers at Red Bull, was particularly enthusiastic. I couldn’t blame him.

“Of course, the stumbling block was money. Any deal that brought Lewis to Red Bull would require staggering sums, especially as he was represented by Simon Fuller.”

The second, he says, was Marko.

“Certainly, Helmut looked unimpressed when he heard the news,” Horner said. “Lewis’s arrival would likely impact Sebastian, his protégé, and he was clearly feeling apprehensive.

“Intrigued, I tested the waters anyway. Simon was known to be a softly spoken person, but his opening gambit caused my ears to ring. ‘You and I can do the biggest sports deal since Muhammad Ali,’ he said boldly.

“I laughed, having grown familiar with the sports-agent vernacular. Simon was going to make a lot of money. And Red Bull would have to spend a fortune.

“Despite the undeniable marketing upside, I didn’t pursue the idea with any real forcefulness. But the Lewis deal was going to appeal to someone. And I had a good idea of who that someone might be.”

It was Niki Lauda.

“Niki’s Mercedes team was desperate for success,” Horner wrote. “Having bought Brawn GP in 2010, they then spent two years struggling in midfield, where their only victory had come in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix with Nico Rosberg.

“However, if Mercedes could finance a deal for Lewis, replacing the retiring Michael Schumacher with one of the most exciting drivers of the moment, they would undoubtedly improve.

“Bernie viewed the switch as an exciting story for Formula One. But Niki seemed uncertain. He worried that the financial outlay might be prohibitive for Mercedes, especially as Simon Fuller was looking to make a groundbreaking arrangement so I suggested that he underwrite the contract himself.

“If a deal was agreed, Niki would likely make his money back through the sale of merchandise alone.”

Hamilton joined Mercedes in 2013, and the rest, as they say, is history. The move yielded be one of the sport’s most successful partnerships with six world titles and 84 race victories.

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