Lewis Hamilton admits Red Bull regret in comment on Max Verstappen to Mercedes rumour

Lewis Hamilton said he is "interested" to see whether Max Verstappen joins his former team Mercedes. And the Brit also admitted a past regret he has about a comment he once made about Red Bull during his hugely successful spell with the Silver Arrows.

Hamilton won six drivers' championships and eight teams' titles with Mercedes during one of the most dominant eras in Formula 1 history. That run was ended by Verstappen and Red Bull who took over as the all-conquering force on the grid.

Of course, that led to both drivers and teams becoming bitter rivals on track, particularly during that tightly-fought 2021 season. And Hamilton referred to that period on Thursday when he was asked during his session with the written media at Silverstone for his take on the rumours linking Verstappen with Mercedes.

Asked if he would recommend the team to his former rival, Hamilton replied: "Of course." But he went on to make it clear he also believes he would be leaving "a great team" too, despite having made a derogatory comment about Red Bull in the past.

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Hamilton said: "He's coming from a great team. I think many, many years ago I was being asked something about, I can't remember, I think I was just so diehard like Mercedes at the time, and I remember saying something about Red Bull being only a drinks company, and I always regretted it. I was just saying that at Mercedes at the time. I was really just trying to gee-up my team.

"But the truth is, Red Bull are an incredible team. There's so many people there that are exceptional, and they've dominated for years. But what I can say, if anyone was going to ask me about Mercedes, it's an amazing team also. Naturally, the passion, they've got great personnel, it's a great factory, great environment to work in. So of course I would say, I'd be interested to see what happens."

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Hamilton is the defending Silverstone champion having ended a 945-day wait for a race win at this event last year. He is hoping for another magical weekend this time around but admits he's probably going to need some help from the weather, otherwise he can't see past another victory for runaway standings leaders McLaren.

He said: "I'm hoping and praying, yes. There's always magic here in Silverstone, so I don't really have to hope for that in the sense of the crowd is incredible, it's very, very, very special place and it always provides a special race. So, but I'm hoping that the weather and all sorts of things can help us, because we obviously naturally not as quick as McLaren. So if it just stays dry then they'll just walk the race."

And he hopes to once again benefit from a boost given by a 500,000 strong weekends crowd, adding: "I don't really know what to expect this weekend. At the moment, Thursday is the same as always, it's the least enjoyable day of the week. And this always is the case. You just want to be in the car. Can't wait for Friday to come. I'm sure, I don't know what to expect tomorrow.

"I'm sure driving on track for the first time in a red car in Silverstone is going to be unique and special in its own way and then seeing the crowd, we have the best fans here at the British Grand Prix. And for a British driver, they really, really do make a difference. I think I've shown that to you time and time again. So, I hope this weekend they can really make a difference for us as well."