P1racenews AI automatic summary:
Lewis Hamilton is contracted at Mercedes, and there’s no suggestion his management team’s “conversations” with Red Bull went far beyond the sounding-out phase. But what if those supposed talks had led to a move there? How would Mercedes have replaced him?
If Lewis Hamilton had pursued the opportunity to join Red Bull in 2024, it would have put Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff in a challenging position, similar to when Nico Rosberg unexpectedly retired in 2016. However, unlike 2016, it is unlikely that other Formula 1 drivers would have been eager to join Mercedes at that time. Mercedes was coming off a highly successful season in 2016, with 19 wins out of 21 races, and only Hamilton and Rosberg’s incidents prevented a clean sweep. To replace Rosberg, Mercedes paid a significant amount to secure Valtteri Bottas from Williams. With limited options so close to the 2017 pre-season testing, Wolff would have faced similar time constraints if Hamilton had moved to Red Bull. Most drivers were already under contract for the following season, including potential targets like Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz at Ferrari, Lando Norris at McLaren, and Fernando Alonso at Aston Martin. Overall, it would have been a challenging and uncertain situation for Wolff to navigate had Hamilton made the move.
