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Hamilton wouldn't fit at Red Bull - Horner

Christian Horner thinks that Lewis Hamilton is comfortable at McLaren © Sutton Images

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• Lewis Hamilton
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• Christian Horner

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Christian Horner doesn't believe Lewis Hamilton is a likely candidate for a seat at Red Bull because he may not be right for the balance of the team.

Hamilton is out of contract at McLaren at the end of this season, and rumours persist that he could switch to either Red Bull or Mercedes. With Mark Webber turning 36 this year and only committing to Red Bull one year at a time there is speculation he could retire at the end of the year, opening up a vacancy. Horner, however, insists that he believes Hamilton to be happy at McLaren and that the team would look to promote one of the Red Bull young drivers when Webber does stop.

"It's difficult to envisage Lewis in our team," Horner is quoted by the Press Association. "I think he's comfortable in the environment he is in, and we're certainly comfortable with the two drivers we have.

"We also took a decision to invest in youth and we've two really exciting youngsters entering GP racing in Jean-Eric Vergne and Daniel Ricciardo. Both are really talented drivers and deserve that opportunity. It will be fascinating to see how they evolve over the year. So we're more likely to look inwardly than outwardly.

"You have to look at the balance within the team as well. It is important to have the right balance within any team, not just with the drivers, but throughout the organisation. Whether or not it could work, who knows? But our preference would probably be to go with drivers in whom we have invested from a young age, give them the opportunity and see how they evolve rather than take something external."

Horner added that he's expecting "a really exciting season" in 2012 as former world champions make up a quarter of the grid.

"This season looks like a stellar year for Formula One with six world champions. It's unprecedented. The quality of the field is phenomenal. I think it's going to be a really exciting season.

"Both Lewis and Jenson (Button) are going to be strong; Fernando (Alonso) you can never rule out, and Kimi (Raikkonen) looks like he is straight back into the groove. We're obviously determined to try and carry the momentum we've gathered over the last couple of years into this season, but we certainly don't take anything for granted."

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