Christian Horner revealed Red Bull approached Lewis Hamilton about joining the team in 2012 as Sebastian Vettel's teammate. The conversations happened, but the deal never materialized. Money killed it. The financial demands from Hamilton's camp exceeded what Red Bull would spend at the time. Horner didn't specify exact figures, but called the sums "staggering." This was a critical moment in Hamilton's career trajectory. Instead of Red Bull, he joined Mercedes in 2013, where he'd win six of his seven world championships. The revelation offers a window into how close F1's recent history came to taking a completely different shape. Had that deal worked, Vettel's dominance with Red Bull might have looked entirely different, and Hamilton's legacy would have been written in a rival's colors instead of silver.