Alonso approached Red Bull about 2025 contract, Horner reveals · RaceFans

Fernando Alonso made another attempt to join world champions Red Bull earlier this year, team principal Christian Horner has revealed.

The two times world champion contacted the team via his representative Flavio Briatore, who is also a consultant for Alpine. A deal could have seen him join Max Verstappen, who has a long-term deal to drive for Red Bull.

Horner confirmed Alonso made the approach before the team extended the contract of Verstappen’s current team mate Sergio Perez. “Fernando is a seasoned operator, he always wants to know all of his options, and between him and his manager or advisor of many years, Flavio, they’re always testing the market,” said Horner.

Alonso, who is making his 400th appearance in a grand prix weekend in Mexico, subsequently signed a new deal to remain at Aston Martin until at least 2026. The team recently hired Red Bull’s star designer Adrian Newey, who will begin work for them next year.

Horner said Alonso’s interest in joining the world champions “just shows how hungry and competitive he is.”

“He’s still delivering at [43] years of age. He’s still in great shape and it just shows that age is just a number. He’s still a very, very capable grand prix driver and given the tools, I’m sure he’d be at the front.”

Alonso turned down an opportunity to join Red Bull after returning to Renault from McLaren in 2008. “At the end of his McLaren stint, the first one in 2008, I remember going to Madrid and pushing to get him in the car,” Horner explained.

| Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

“We wanted to do a two-year deal, and he was only prepared to sign for one year. And we were convinced he had a Ferrari contract in his back pocket at that point. So we didn’t get to a deal.”

Since then Red Bull have won the constructors’ championship six times and taken Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen to the drivers’ title on a total of seven occasions.

“Had he come to us in 2009, maybe things could have looked slightly different,” said Horner. “Even halfway through the 2009 season, he was convinced if he got in our car, he could still win the championship that year. So that was that point we then had a conversation.”

Another missed opportunity for Alonso to join Red Bull came a few years later, after Vettel beat him to the 2010 world championship. “I remember meeting with him with Adrian in the back of a hire car at Spa airport, I think that was around 2011 – ‘11 or ’12 – about coming across from Ferrari, and then even as early as the beginning of this year.

“So it’s incredible the longevity that he’s had, the competitiveness that he has, and the statistics for the talent that he has and the ability he has. Two world championships don’t do him justice. He should have won more than that.”