Fernando Alonso and the time he was close to joining Red Bull: “I was in a parking lot with Horner and Newey”. he partnership between Fernando Alonso and Red Bull never materialized.

The partnership between Fernando Alonso and Red Bull never materialized, but in the past, it almost became a reality.

The Spaniard has driven for many teams over his career: debuting with Minardi, winning titles with Renault, then McLaren, Renault again, Ferrari, McLaren once more, Alpine, and finally Aston Martin.

Some might say it’s a career of missed choices, leading him to win less than he perhaps deserved.

Fernando Alonso was close to Red Bull
During the F1 Beyond The Grid podcast, Fernando Alonso was asked if he regretted not choosing Red Bull, especially given their dominance from 2010 to 2014.

“I never really thought about it much. Neither then nor now,” the Spanish driver explained. “I never regret anything. I know some decisions in F1 can heavily impact what you can or can’t achieve.”

“When you make a decision, I believe you do it with full commitment, thinking it’s the best one. No one has a crystal ball to know what will happen in the future.”

“In 2008, I had some moments where I thought I might join Red Bull,” Alonso continued. “One of them was when I left McLaren at the end of 2007. After that season, I met with Adrian [Newey] and Christian [Horner] at Heathrow Airport for a meeting.”

“Then 2008 was the year I got closest. I remember it perfectly; we were in a parking lot at Spa airport, the small airport up on the hill. We were in that parking lot, sitting in the back seats, talking about this possibility.” – he pointed out – “At that point, I was very close to Ferrari. If it didn’t happen in 2009, it was definitely going to happen in 2010. We went down that path, and they took Sebastian, who was with BMW at the time.”

The comparison with Lewis Hamilton
“It’s easy to say now,” the Spaniard concluded. “In 2008, Red Bull had, I think, only one podium and was an energy drink company. Great team, great team members, but I don’t think it was obvious they would win seven or eight championships over the next decade. When Lewis moved from McLaren to Mercedes in 2013, there was a lot of criticism: ‘Why did you leave McLaren for a Mercedes that had only achieved one or two podiums until then?’ Now he’s a seven-time world champion.”

“The same goes for Ferrari. We don’t know what Lewis will achieve next year. If Ferrari does well and wins a championship, it’s a great move. If Mercedes does well and wins the championship, it’s a wrong move. How can you predict it?” – Fernando Alonso added.