Alonso at Red Bull: it almost happened
The Red Bull team boss, Christian Horner, reminded that Fernando Alonso had "missed the opportunity" to join the Austrian team, two years before they won the championship.
After putting an end to Michael Schumacher’s reign by winning the world title in 2005, and then again in 2006, Alonso was a safe bet in Formula 1 in the mid-2000s.
Red Bull attempted to recruit the Spaniard during their acrimonious season with McLaren, when it became evident that this relationship (especially with Lewis Hamilton) was not going to last. But Alonso, who wanted to join Ferrari, wanted a one-year contract while Red Bull wanted to offer him a longer commitment.
The negotiations therefore failed before Alonso’s team approached Red Bull two years later, while Horner remembers another discussion « at the back of an Alfa Romeo » a few years later.
A conversation in the back of an Alfa Romeo
The first series of discussions was the most serious. Horner believes that the Spaniard missed the opportunity since Red Bull won four World Championships between 2010 and 2013.
“We were very close,” assures Horner. “I went to see his management agency at the end of 2008 to sign him for the 2009 and 2010 seasons. We offered him a two-year contract. He only wanted to sign for one season, but Red Bull’s stance, as well as Mr. Mateschitz’s, was two years or nothing, and he didn’t commit.”
However, in the middle of 2009, I was contacted to be told that he could join the team the following year because we were going to win the next World Championship with this car.
Horner also revealed that he had a discussion with the former Renault driver in the back of an Alfa Romeo at Spa airport in 2011 or 2012, before ensuring that the most serious negotiation was the first one.
Bad team choices, according to Eddie Jordan
If Alonso had joined Red Bull in 2008, it is likely that he would have been able to secure some podium finishes. In 2009, Red Bull was in a fierce battle with BrawnGP, where the team had its best season with 6 victories. Then came 2010, when Sebastian Vettel won the world championship and, along with Mark Webber, brought Red Bull their first constructors’ title. The German went on to win three more championships between 2011 and 2013.
During the same period, from 2008 to 2013, Alonso won two races with Renault and was involved in the “Crashgate” incident in Singapore, before joining Ferrari where he finished second three times behind Vettel.
It has been said repeatedly that Alonso had a reputation for making poor career choices in Formula 1. According to former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan, Alonso could have won four, six, or maybe even eight world championships if he had simply chosen his teams better.
The Asturian Bull replied that, over his 20 years in Formula 1, he only experienced four frustrating years in a non-competitive McLaren-Honda ».
« But for the past 16 years, I have been fighting for podiums and victories, which is quite unique. » Furthermore, I sometimes get the impression from the outside that people are a bit sorry for my career changes, but the facts don’t give me that impression.
