Alonso’s Missed Red Bull Move: "Success Wasn’t Certain"

Fernando Alonso reflects on his decision not to join Red Bull, asserting that future success was uncertain in the late 2000s.

The past connections between Fernando Alonso and Red Bull have been well documented, and the Aston Martin F1 driver reflected on not joining the Milton Keynes team. He recalled two discussions in 2007 and 2008 where he spoke with Adrian Newey and Christian Horner.

“I didn’t think about it too much. Never. Neither back then, nor even today,” Alonso stated. “I never regret anything. I know that certain decisions in your Formula 1 career can change a lot in terms of what you achieve or don’t.”

“But I believe that when you make a decision, you fully commit to it and believe it’s the best one. Nobody has a crystal ball to know what will happen in the future. In 2008, I had a few moments where I could have joined Red Bull. One of those was when I left McLaren at the end of 2007.”

“After that season, I found different opportunities. I met Adrian and Christian at Heathrow Airport. And then 2008 was the closest moment. I remember it perfectly; we were at the Spa airport parking lot, the small airport up on the hill.”

“We were in that parking lot, sitting in the back seats, both of us late at night, talking about the possibility. I was very close to Ferrari. If it wasn’t in 2009, it would certainly be in 2010. We went down that path, and they took Sebastian.”

But the Spaniard points out he had valid reasons for not choosing Red Bull: “It’s easy to say today, but in 2008, Red Bull only had one podium, David [Coulthard]’s in Monaco, and Red Bull was an energy drinks company.”

“It was a great team, with amazing people, but I think predicting they would win seven or eight championships over the next decade wasn’t entirely guaranteed.”

“When Lewis moved from McLaren to Mercedes, in that first year in 2013, there was a lot of criticism, ‘why did you leave McLaren for a Mercedes that had only one or two podiums until then?’ And now, he’s a seven-time world champion.”

“It’s the same with Ferrari. You don’t know what Lewis will achieve next year. If Ferrari does well and wins the championship, it’s a good choice. If Mercedes does well and wins the championship, it’s a bad decision. How can you predict that?”