Fernando Alonso isn’t in F1 just for the sake of it. The two-time world champion wants to win races and titles, which is why he wants to drive for the best team on the grid. While his current team Aston Martin is planning a roadmap that would get it to the top of the sport, Alonso was reportedly eyeing a shortcut at the start of the season.
According to journalist Julianne Cerasoli, Red Bull Team principal Christian Horner made a startling revelation about Alonso ahead of the Mexican GP. The Spaniard had contacted Red Bull, asking if there was a spot open.
“Horner is saying in the press conference here that Alonso knocked on Red Bull’s door,” Cerasoli wrote on X (formerly Twitter).
Horner tá contando na coletiva de imprensa aqui que o Alonso bateu na porta da Red Bull no começo desse ano para saber se ia rolar uma vaga pra ele ali.
Ele deu a entender que seria no lugar de Perez, pq o contrato do mexicano não tinha sido renovado.
— Julianne Cerasoli (@jucerasoli) October 25, 2024
At that time, Sergio Perez’s contract had not been renewed by Red Bull, and because of the Mexican driver’s struggles, Alonso wondered if he could replace him. Of course, Red Bull did not go ahead with the signing and placed its faith in Perez, a driver whose results kept going from bad to worse.
However, Alonso never admitted to talking to Red Bull and since joining Aston Martin in 2023, has reaffirmed his complete belief in the project laid out by the Silverstone-based team, one which could make them world champions shortly.
Was it Alonso who rejected Red Bull?
In the past, Alonso had revealed that Red Bull approached him several times during his storied career. In fact, he put a number to it — six. Earlier this year, however, Alonso signed a new multi-year contract with Aston Martin amid rumored interest from Red Bull.
So, there is a chance that it wasn’t the Spaniard who had made the Red Bull inquiry, but the other way around. If that did happen, it would mean that Alonso rejected Red Bull for the seventh time this year.
But why would the #14 driver not want to join the Milton-Keynes-based team? It is one of the front-runners and is touted to continue competing for race wins in the coming years.
Well, Alonso trusts Aston Martin. Team owner Lawrence Stroll invested hundreds of millions into its future and also signed brilliant engineers — including Adrian Newey — to help its world championship-level ambitions. Red Bull, on the other hand, is stuck with Perez, a driver who is finding it exceedingly difficult to get back to form.
