1996 Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve insists that “talks always happen” amid recent rumours that Lewis Hamilton contacted Red Bull about a seat.
Earlier this month, Horner divulged to the Daily Mail that a representative from Hamilton’s side had been in contact earlier in the year to inquire about a switch to Red Bull.
But Hamilton denied that his entourage had been in touch with the Austrian camp before Horner then clarified it had been the Briton’s father, Anthony, who had reached out to him.
With Horner also speculating that Hamilton was in talks with Ferrari, Villeneuve suspects that the Briton held discussions with rival teams prior to signing a new Mercedes deal.
“As a driver, you’re not allowed to talk to other teams while you’re under contract and all that. But talks always happen,” Villeneuve told PlanetF1 regarding the reports.
“Obviously, you cross people in the paddock or, sometimes, you’ll use someone who doesn’t work for you, but will still do the talk so you’re protected.
“But, if the noise comes out, you have to negate it. Then who’s there to check?”
After Hamilton revealed that he had informed Mercedes about the rumours, Toto Wolff, the Brackley-based squad’s team boss, blasted Horner for releasing a false set of events.
“I just don’t know what drives the guy,” he said when speaking on the topic during the Abu Dhabi weekend. “We don’t understand his thinking to come up with these things.
“[It] was Christian inquiring into his availability. Lewis had an exchange with Christian – which he immediately told me about, which was not about a seat, but it was just… blah.
“I just wonder what’s going on up there.”
Questioned on the intense rivalry between Horner and Wolff, Villeneuve believes the two most successful team bosses of the last decade equally need each other’s presence.
“That’s the only way you can progress,” the Canadian, an 11-time race winner in F1, added. “Without the rivalry, you go backwards.
“In the past, Mercedes were winning easily and it is costly today because it took them way too long to react to last year’s car problem.
“Why? Because they spent so many years where it didn’t matter if the car was perfect or not, they had all the horsepower behind them. That’s why [Toto’s] right, you need that rivalry.
“That’s why Red Bull is still at the top, because Max [Verstappen] is fighting still as if it was for the championship.
“If he had given up four races ago, they would be slower next year.”
