Daniel Ricciardo and Fernando Alonso were the two drivers that held all the cards at the start of the summer break.
Ricciardo acted on his gut and signed for Renault after years of driving for Red Bull. The Australian wanted change and probably did not approve of the Honda engine or the Verstappen favouritism.
And now, with Ricciardo’s future sorted, the ball is in Alonso’s court.
He needs to take the decision about if he is motivated enough to stay and compete in F1 or of he wants to now shift focus to other forms of motorsport, with the end of his racing career not far away.
Red Bull are in a fix with regards to that vacant Ricciardo seat, with Gasly and Sainz emerging as the top options.
But the rumour mill has been suggesting that Alonso too could be a potential candidate for the part. However, in the F1 podcast, Horner has squashed all those rumours by taking a dig at Alonso’s ‘team behaviour’.
Horner also confirmed that Red Bull will continue to invest in youth, as has been their philosophy for quite sometime now.
“I’ve got huge repect for Fernando […] he has tended to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone in the past. I’m not sure that it would be the healthiest thing for the team. Our preference would be to continue to invest in youth […]” Horner said.
While Alonso’s skill as a driver ranks high up with all the legends of the sport, his antics in a team setup have often been questioned, with drivers not willing to team up with him because of how he conducts himself in team environment.
Alonso is yet to comment on his F1 and McLaren future, but whatever he does will have a massive impact on the driver market in the days to come.
