Hamilton’s Red Bull visit sparks rumours

Private meeting adds fuel to transfer talks.

MONTREAL:

McLaren chief Martin Whitmarsh appeared to have a fight on his hands as news leaked out that controversial 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton has held talks about his future with Red Bull.

Hamilton, it was reported, spent some time at the Red Bull team’s offices in the paddock at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Saturday evening – 24 hours before he made his crashing exit from the Canadian Grand Prix.

According to sources at Red Bull, the 26-year-old Briton spent more than 15 minutes in a private meeting with Red Bull team chief Christian Horner. Asked what they talked about, the source said it was just ‘a social visit’.

Hamilton is under contract to McLaren until the end of 2012 and has often declared that he wants to complete his racing career with the Woking-based outfit. But it has been long-rumoured that Hamilton would be prepared to leave McLaren and be a teammate to defending world champion Sebastian Vettel, in exchange for a chance to win the title again in a truly competitive car.

He believes McLaren have struggled not only to build a competitive machine, but also to deliver the upgrades or on-track management performance required to compete at the top level despite delivering the only two non-Vettel wins this year in seven races.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2011.