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.