Fernando Alonso Didn’t Take Red Bull’s Approach “Seriously”, Says Helmut Marko

Fernando Alonso Didn’t Take Red Bull’s Approach “Seriously”, Says Helmut Marko

In the mid-2000s, Red Bull didn’t yet have a reputation as a World Championship team. They entered the sport in 2005 and were aiming to rise to the top. As part of that journey, they sought to bring in top drivers and approached Fernando Alonso ahead of the 2008 season. However, the Spaniard declined their offer.

On the ‘Inside the Line’ podcast, Marko revealed that very few people took Red Bull seriously in their early days. They saw the Austrian outfit as an ‘energy drinks’ company, which is where they had made a name for themselves. Red Bull, however, was determined to prove its doubters wrong.

Deploying a “no risk, no fun” strategy, Marko – who had been with Red Bull since day one – approached Alonso. However, the Ovied0-born driver said no. “…he probably didn’t take us seriously. So yeah, it didn’t happen,” Marko said.

Alonso was looking for a team in 2008, as he was coming off the back of an intense title battle with rookie Lewis Hamilton at McLaren. He didn’t want to be a part of an intra-team battle and wanted to move somewhere he could challenge for the championship. Red Bull, because of its unproven worth, was not deemed suitable.

Alonso, who won the championship in 2005 and 2006 with Renault, decided to make a sensational return to the French team. However, things did not go his way, as the team lacked the mechanical prowess to launch a title charge. Red Bull meanwhile, kept getting better, and in 2010, won its first World championship with academy driver Sebastian Vettel at the helm.

Red Bull won four consecutive titles between 2010 and 2013, all with Vettel. Meanwhile, Alonso moved to Ferrari in 2010 and ultimately fell short in his attempts to win the crown, thanks to the dominance of the Milton Keynes-based team.

Today, Red Bull is a formidable team and there aren’t any drivers in F1 today, who don’t take them seriously.

 

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
Fernando Alonso Helmut Marko Red Bull Sebastian Vettel

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Naman Gopal Srivastava

Naman is an F1 writer at The SportsRush. Initially a football fanatic who worships Puyol and Leo Messi, Naman soon fell in love with the world of F1 upon reading about Jim Clarke. While the current era drivers do fascinate him, Naman still chooses to idolize Clarke and Ayrton Senna. When he is not busy watching the highlights of some of the greatest races of his idols, Naman can be found scribbling little snippets in his diary of poems or out in the town, exploring new places to eat.

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