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Alonso nearly went to Red Bull, Horner reveals

Red Bull Racing principal Christian Horner has revealed how the team nearly signed up two-time world champion Fernando Alonso.

The Spaniard was driving for the Renault F1 team in 2008, but was looking to make a move for the following season.

"We got very close to signing Alonso," Horner told Motor Sport Magazine. He explained how he and Red Bull motorsport consultant Dr Helmut Marko had held talks with Alonso's manager, Flavio Briatore.

"Helmut and I went to see his management at the end of 2008 for the '09 and '10 season, and we offered him a two-year contract."

However, negotiations hit a stumbling block when it emerged that Alonso would only commit to a one-year deal.

"He would only sign up for one year. We said Red Bull’s position was a two-year deal or nothing, and he wouldn’t commit to that."

At the time, Red Bull were casting around for a replacement for David Coulthard, who was retiring from Formula 1 at the end of the season.

After talks with Alonso broke down, the team promoted Sebastian Vettel from the sister Toro Rosso squad to parter Mark Webber.

Alonso praises McLaren for letting him venture beyond F1

Horner believed that Alonso probably already a deal in his pocket to drive for Ferrari in 2009. That turned out not to be the case, however.

"Flavio was involved as well, but he was trying to get him for Renault which he was managing at the time," Horner explained. "In the end, he drove for Renault for 10 years."

Another season at Renault proved frustrating for Alonso, however. Horner said that midway through the following year there had been more contact between Red Bull and the driver.

"Halfway through 2009, I had an approach to say ‘Could he join mid-season?’" recalled Horner. "They thought he could win the championship in the car."

Instead, Alonso finally got his long-anticipated race seat at Ferrari for 2010. However, even a couple of years later there were still informal talks about possible talks.

"He had another conversation in the back of an Alfa Romeo at Spa airport several years late," said Horner. "[But] the most serious discussion was the first one, and then it missed its chance."

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.