The F1 rumour mil𝓀l was sent into overdrive at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix after Red Bull team principal Christian Horner claimed that Hamilton reached out over a potential switch from Merced🉐es. 

Horner’s comments were included in a st🌳ory published on the e♛ve of the Abu Dhabi finale that sparked a ‘he said, she said’ saga between Red Bull and the seven-time world champion. 

After Hamilton disputed Horner’s claims, the Red Bull chief admitted the contact🍬 originally came from Hamilton’s father, Anth🍃ony.

"We're very happy with the drivers that we've got, but of course Lewis hasn't won a race for almost two years. You can understand questions being asked, it's entirely logical and normal for those type of thin꧃gs to happen,” Horner told Sky in Abu Dhabi. 

"And as I say, I've always had a great rel𓂃ationship with Anthony, he's a very nice guy, but there is no seat available so it's really a non-story."

Hamilton signed a new two-year contract with Mercedes in August which ties him down to the German manufac﷽turer until the end of 2025. 

Ma🌠rko waded in on the topic when asked about it by Motorsport.com, 🐓explaining that financial constraints and underlying tension would stop a Verstappen-Hamilton pairing from ever happening at Red Bull. 

“Christian informed me and showed me the text message he received, b🐽ut I told him: ‘Hamilton and Max, that doesn't work’,” Marko said. 

“There was too much action and how should I say, in 2021, tension. And on the ♊other hand, we cannot af⭕ford to have the two most expensive drivers in one team. 

“It's just never going to happen. So I told Christian: ‘No way.’”&nbs�ಞ�p;

In the interview with the Daily Mail, Horner also expressed doubts abou꧃t whether a Verstappen-Hamilton dynamic could work.&n♓bsp;

"I can't see Max and Le♔wis working out together,” Horner said. “The dynamic wouldn't be right. We are 100ಌ per cent happy with what we have.”