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Horner: Hamilton was 'desperate' to drive for Red Bull

London, England - Red Bull team boss Christian Horner claims he encouraged Mercedes to sign Lewis Hamilton when the now triple world champion was on the market back in 2012.

Horner told the British magazine F1 Racing that Hamilton, who has dominated F1 with Mercedes for the past two seasons, was actually more keen to move to Red Bull.

"Desperate to drive for Red Bull"

The Red Bull team boss said: "He was desperate to drive for the team, but there was no way we could accommodate him while Sebastian (Vettel) was with us."

Horner says he encouraged Mercedes to sign Hamilton instead, to replace Michael Schumacher as the great seven time world champion returned to retirement.

He said:"McLaren had been very competitive in 2011 and 2012 and I thought it would probably be better for us for him (Hamilton) to be at Mercedes rather than McLaren.

"So I encouraged Niki Lauda (Mercedes honorary chairman) to sign him to weaken McLaren, not envisaging that Mercedes would become the absolute powerhouse they are today."

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