Formula 1: How Lewis Hamilton almost ended up at Red Bull Racing

According to Helmut Marko, Red Bull Racing very well could have ended up with Lewis Hamilton, but a tactical error cost the team the chance to land the Formula 1 champion.

Lewis Hamilton arrived in Formula 1 in the 2007 season and spent the first six seasons of his career driving for McLaren.

He won the championship in the 2008 season to become the youngest champion in Formula 1 history at the time at the age of 23, and he won 21 races throughout these six seasons.

But Hamilton reportedly grew frustrated at McLaren by the end of his tenure, and he was urged by three-time champion Niki Lauda to leave the team and join Mercedes, which were, at the time, even worse than the Woking-based outfit.

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However, before Hamilton was confirmed at the Silver Arrows for the 2013 season, he and Red Bull Racing team manager Helmut Marko have been revealed to have been in talks about a possible deal to send the Briton to the Milton Keynes-based team.

But there was no room for Hamilton at the time with then three-time champion Sebastian Vettel driving for the team alongside Mark Webber. As a result, Marko supported Lauda to get Hamilton to Mercedes because they were weaker than McLaren at the time. He did so hoping to increase Hamilton’s desire to join Red Bull Racing in the future when a seat eventually opened up, presumably for the 2014 season.

At this time, Red Bull Racing were the top team in Formula 1. Vettel had won each of the last  three driver championships, and the team had won each of the last three constructor championships. In the 2013 season, they both extended those respective streaks to four.

Hamilton ended up signing with Mercedes ahead of the 2013 season, and to this day, the 2013 season is the final season that did not result in them winning the driver and constructor championships.

Red Bull Racing missed him by just one year, as Webber retired after the 2013 season.

Mercedes are currently the five-time reigning constructor champions, and Hamilton has won four of the last five driver championships. He has recorded 59 victories since the 2014 season began after recording a career-low one in the 2013 season, and he is in prime position to break Michael Schumacher’s wins and championships records of 91 and seven with 81 and five.

Looking back on what might have been, here is what Marko had to say about supporting Lauda’s role in sending Hamilton to Mercedes, according to Motorsport-Total.com.

"“Lewis was unhappy with McLaren and there was no free place with us. Then I thought it would be better if he went to Mercedes and we massively supported [Niki] Lauda from Lewis. McLaren was our strongest opponent at the time. In retrospect, it would have been much better if he had stayed with McLaren. Now you can see how tactical you can sometimes be wrong.”"

Austrian SportWoche initially reported this rumor about Hamilton being in talks with Red Bull Racing back in 2012, and they released a cover illustrating the possibility of him driving for the team.

As we know now, this deal never came to fruition.

How different would Formula 1 be today had Lewis Hamilton been able to sign with Red Bull Racing for the 2013 season? Would he have done it? How different would his career be, and who would have ended up driving for Mercedes instead of him?