He was a luxury they could afford while they had the significantly fastest car, but now things have leveled off he will cost them the constructors if they aren’t careful.
If rumours are to be believed they turned down Lewis, Fernando and Carlos to resign Checo. I wonder what would cause them to keep a clear number two driver?
I doubt Lewis wanted to go anywhere but Ferrari. Especially with Newey heading there. And as for Carlos, zero chance Jos would have allowed that. For better or (mostly) worse, Max and Jos seem to have outsized influence at Red Bull.
I think it’s more complicated with Lewis to Red Bull: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/f1/news/12433/13014133/lewis-hamilton-says-red-bull-chief-christian-horner-contacted-him-over-meeting-following-claims-of-talks
If I remember correctly it was Lewis’s dad that had the conversations with Horner, but I forget who started it. This was before Ferrari looked to be on. Ferrari for Lewis wasn’t a valid destination until Fred had his feet under the table as they were a shit show before then.
I agree about Carlos, that’s what I was getting at for all three drivers. Red Bull now have a complete mess with no replacement for Max if he just fucks off, and it seems he can thanks to Marko.