Hamilton to Red Bull?

Lewis Hamilton has been a championship contender for three of his first four seasons in Formula One. The margins are so fine in F1 that at 26 years old, he could already be a triple world champion. It does swing both ways of course; without Nelson Piquet Jr. crashing into the wall at Turn 17 in the inaugural Singapore Grand Prix in 2008, Felipe Massa would have been world champion. Without that world title to fall back on, Hamilton could well be regarded, incorrectly, as a perennial nearly man. Thankfully for someone who possesses such an extraordinary talent behind the wheel of a grand prix car, he has deservedly acquired the status of being a world champion.

We haven’t even had the first race of the 2011 season yet but that first world title in 2008 will suddenly seem a long, long time ago for Hamilton. He’s won just five races and taken the same number of poles since the penultimate round of his title-winning season in China. The fact that these subsequent successes were achieved without having the quickest car at his disposal is even more impressive; last year’s car was behind both Red Bull and Ferrari, while in 2009 the car was three seconds off the pace at the opening round in Australia before climbing the pecking order to finish the season as probably the fourth best car on the grid (in Hamilton’s hands anyway). How about this for an amazing statistic: Hamilton's title triumph is the only piece of silverware Mclaren have collected since Mika Hakkinen achieved the same feat, for a second time, in 1999. There have been several near misses during those 11 years, and one must not forget they were stripped of all their constructors' points in 2007 over the 'spy- gate' affair when they would have had otherwise won that particular crown. To put Mclaren's difficulties into perspective, over the same timeframe, Ferrari have lifted 13 trophies, Renault four, and even Brawn GP and Red Bull Racing have two apiece given their double triumphs over the last two years. For a team with such large resources and history, this must be incredibly hard to take for the team and its supporters. A third season without finishing on top of the pile is unfathomable for Hamilton; I doubt he particularly relishes a barren spell in the middle of his career like his arch rival Fernando Alonso. The 26 year old has two years left on his current deal at Mclaren, but will he extend his stay?

So, Hamilton at Red Bull; could it be possible? Much depends on how Mark Webber fares as Sebastian Vettel’s team mate this season and whether or not Mclaren can usurp Red Bull and Alonso on a regular basis. Christian Horner has been fairly diplomatic on whether Hamilton will ever partner Vettel at Red Bull, but will undoubtedly keep a close eye on the 2008 champion’s happiness this term. Alarm bells shouldn’t start ringing at Mclaren just yet. However, the fact their car in testing has only been as quick as the top midfield runners is a cause for concern, Moreover, the car has lacked reliability throughout winter testing and upgrades for the MP4-26 are not imminent. Hamilton is an exhilarating driver to watch, but not if he is engulfed in a battle for seventh or eighth consistently. As with all of the drivers on the grid, they need the quickest car possible to fully display their motor racing talents and Hamilton, the most exciting driver, driving a red bull, the fastest car, could be a match made in heaven.

If he were to ever swap his shiny Mclaren for the charging bull, he faces one major obstacle: Sebastian Vettel. The rivalry between these two magnificent drivers (arguably the best alongside Alonso) will last for years, but an inter team rivalry could potentially be catastrophic. We know from their past experiences of dealing with factions within their own team that no quarter would be given by either man. Prost v Senna? Vettel v Hamilton may reach an incomparable level. Christian Horner would have to make it happen first, though.

Josh.