Christian Horner has held talks with Lewis Hamilton over a potential Red Bull move – but none of them at any point recently.
Hamilton is expected to sign a new Mercedes deal to keep him there beyond the end of this season. But the saga has stretched on for months and, as it stands, there is still no conclusion.
Amid the uncertainty over his future, potential alternative options have been suggested. One of the most high profile was a surprise move to Ferrari, who were said to have been preparing a £40m contract proposal which never came.
Another, even more ambitious suggestion was that he could join Red Bull. And even though the idea is far-fetched, the attraction is obvious.
There is little doubt that Hamilton and Max Verstappen going head-to-head in the same car for Formula 1 glory would make for epic viewing. But it is just as clear that the chances of it ever happening are next to zero.
That hasn't always been the case, however. Red Bull chief Horner rubbished any suggestion that there have been any recent talks between his team and Hamilton, but admitted there have been some meetings in the past.
He said: "It's nothing we've ever considered in the recent past. I mean, obviously, to pay for those two drivers in itself, you'd probably have to sell the factory!
"Lewis is obviously a great driver – hopefully, he will be around for many years to come. There've been a couple of occasions in history we've had a couple of conversations about the possibility of joining Red Bull, but that's not been any time recently."
Speaking last year, Horner revealed that one of the times Hamilton had talks with his team was when the Brit was still racing for McLaren. He ended up making the shock move to Mercedes but, according to the Red Bull chief, was keen to race alongside Sebastian Vettel as his team dominated the sport.
"Lewis and I have had a couple of conversations over the years," he explained, before adding: "From 2010 to 2013, he was very keen to come and drive for Red Bull. We had Sebastian at that time and to have had two alpha drivers wouldn't have made sense."
