Fernando Alonso would have been a World Champion with Red Bull if not for one demand: Christian Horner
Fernando Alonso was supposed to go to Red Bull for the 2008 and 2009 Championship seasons if not for his contract-related disagreements with Red Bull.
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Fernando Alonso is undoubtedly the breakout star of the current Formula 1 2023 season. The Spaniard, who did not even have a seat at any of the teams participating in the pinnacle of motorsports only 3 years ago, is now consistently going for the podium places and bringing points for his new team, Aston Martin. With the third position in the World Drivers’ Championship standings, he is proving to be a force to reckon with for all his heavyweight rivals like Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
At 41 years of age, Nando was brave enough to take the leap of faith and move to Lawrence Stroll’s team to fill Sebastian Vettel’s seat. He even said he believes in the Canadian billionaire’s visions for his team. And now, Fernando Alonso is delivering great performances at almost every race. Thus, it is no surprise that the Asturian is seen making the headlines quite regularly in F1. He has even caught the eye of Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner, who recently admitted their squad was close to signing Alonso for a deal in the late 2000s.
Fernando Alonso got two back-to-back F1 World Championships in 2005 and 2006, but the Oviedo native failed to increase his title count further. Now, Christian Horner has said there was a possibility that the Spaniard would have scored some more wins with Red Bull as the team was eyeing a contract with him in 2008 and ’09. He said, “The most serious offer was a contract for the 2008 and ’09 season, but Alonso would only commit to a one-year contract.”
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Christian Horner claims Red Bull even approached Fernando Alonso for a contract to join mid-season
As the star driver of the late 2000s for having won two World Championships in ’05 and ’06, it is unsurprising that Red Bull presented an offer to Fernando Alonso. The Milton-Keynes outfit was so eager to welcome Nando to their team that they convinced Fernando to join mid-season as well. Christian Horner said, “Halfway through 2009, I had him approach to say ‘Could he join the team mid-season?’ because they thought he could win the Championship in that car.”
While Fernando Alonso never came to terms with Red Bull, Christian Horner did find a star driver in Sebastian Vettel. The German joined their team in 2009 and got Red Bull some back-to-back F1 World titles for the next four years (from 2010 to 2013). With Horner admitting Red Bull’s wishes to sign Alonso for the 2009 season, it makes the fans wonder what the duo of Fernando and Sebastian Vettel would have been like.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)