Exclusive – Allen admits Hamilton move could happen if Red Bull owner wants it

James Allen has told talkSPORT Lewis Hamilton could make a controversial switch to Red Bull – if Dietrich Mateschitz thinks it would be a good laugh!

Austrian Mateschitz is the sole owner of Red Bull, and Allen admits he can pretty much do whatever he likes.

Allen told the Alan Brazil Sports Breakfast: “There would be some quite big logistical problems with Hamilton’s proposed move to Red Bull given that they’ve got Sebastian Vettel and I don’t think he’d think it was a particularly brilliant idea.

“Not that he’d be afraid of going up against Hamilton, although it would be a massive test because they’re pretty evenly matched, but that it perhaps wasn’t necessary and would dilute the team’s efforts.

“But he’s not in charge, Christian Horner is in charge, and ultimately the guy who owns Red Bull, Dietrich Mateschitz, is in charge, and he does whatever he likes. He has no shareholders, has a company that turns over about $5billion a year and invests in about 100 different sports.

“If he wants to buy a football team in New York, he buys it. If he wants to invest in a base jumper, he just does it. And he could do anything he wants to.

“He said recently he has no desire to sell his business, he’s just having fun. And if he thinks it will be a good laugh to have Hamilton alongside Vettel, and Hamilton wants to do it, then it could happen.

“It’s not something Vettel would appreciate but it would be spectacular for F1 because it would be like the days of Senna and Prost in the same team. But that usually ends in tears.”