Fernando Alonso revealed to Sky Sports F1 he rejected a move to Red Bull prior to announcing his exit from F1 at the end of the year. The Spaniard says he turned down an offer from the former world champions following Daniel Ricciardo’s shock decision to quit for Renault.
Earlier this week, Red Bull named Pierre Gasly as Max Verstappen’s 2019 team-mate.
Alonso’s revelation that he rejected Red Bull is seemingly at odds with the remarks of Christian Horner when the Red Bull boss ruled out Alonso replacing Ricciardo just a day after the Australian’s bombshell.
“I have huge respect for Fernando. He is a great driver, a fantastic driver. But it’s very difficult…he’s tended to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone,” Horner told F1’s official site.
“I’m not sure it would be the healthiest thing for the team for Fernando to join. Our preference is to continue to invest in youth than take a driver who is obviously close to the end of his career.”
Meanwhile, Alonso has left the door open to making a return to F1 in the future – just a week after announcing he will leave the sport at the end of the year.
“Life changes very quickly,” said Alonso in the Drivers’ Press Conference for this weekend’s Belgian GP. “For me it is a bye bye, but who knows – things change quickly. I am leaving the door open as I don’t know what will happen in the future.”
