Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Bahrain International Circuit, 2018

Alonso unlikely to get 2019 Red Bull chance: ‘He tends to cause chaos’

2018 F1 season

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Fernando Alonso is unlikely to be called up by Red Bull to replace Daniel Ricciardo for the 2019 F1 season, according to team principal Christian Horner.

Ricciardo’s unexpected decision to leave the team for Renault next year leaves Red Bull in need of a replacement. Its options include junior drivers Carlos Sainz Jnr, currently on loan to Renault but out of a drive for next year in the wake of Ricciardo’s move, and Pierre Gasly.

However with two-times world champion Fernando Alonso in his fifth season without a race-winning F1 car, speculation has linked him with a move to the team. Horner played the suggestion down when speaking to the F1 website.

“I have got huge respect for Fernando,” said Horner. “He’s a great driver, a fantastic driver.

“But I think it’s very difficult to see… he tends to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone. I’m not sure it would be the healthiest thing for the team for Fernando to join the team.”

Red Bull has not appointed anyone from outside its young driver programme since Mark Webber joined the team in 2007. Horner indicated the team is not looking for an experienced driver to partner Max Verstappen next year.

“Our preference would be to continue to invest in youth than take a driver who’s obviously close to the end of his career,” he said.

Alonso has said he will make a decision on his future after the F1 summer break.

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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101 comments on “Alonso unlikely to get 2019 Red Bull chance: ‘He tends to cause chaos’”

  1. Horner is a nice guy I like him, but his failure to manage Vettel and Webber caused as much chaos as FA

    1. Did it, though? They won 4 championships… I’m a massive Webber fan but sometimes he was responsable for his own undoing… Malaysia 2013 was a prime example, he didn’t help Vettel in Interlagos 2012 and refuted team orders in Silverstone 2011 but then he wanted Vettel not to race him when he was leading… I still mantain Seb was right there.

      The only moment I feel Red Bull mismanaged them was Istambul in 2010 and the front wing debacle at Silverstone that same year. Other than that it worked a treat for Red Bull and despite those troubling moments, they just dominated during those 4 years.

      1. Michael Brown (@)
        9th August 2018, 5:42

        @fer-no65 Is there something I have wrong about the Silverstone 2010 wing debacle? Webber preferred the old wing and a Vettel preferred the new wing, and the team took the new wing from Webber to replace Vettel’s damaged wing.

        Red Bull handled Malaysia 2013 very well, I think. Vettel had just won the 2012 championship and already had the lead in the championship over Webber, but they backed Webber for the win.

        1. @mbr-9 Yes there is a lot you have wrong on both cases. In Silverstone 2010, the bull story that Webber preferred the old wing was spread by helmet Marko. The new wing was taken from MW without his consent.

          RBR handled Malaysia 2013 awfully. The fact Vettel won 2012 is irrelevant. Malaysia was at the beginning of the 2013 championship so the fact Vettel led Webber slightly is irrelevant too. Unless you’re a Vettel fanboy and advocate blatant favoritism on his part. It was clearly decided before the race what the conduct should be and if Vettel disagreed with it he shoul’ve said so then instead of backstabbing.

          1. @montreal95 the elephant in the room in malaysia 2013 was that vettel chased down and passed webber in equal cars. webber was unable to do that in similar circumstances in previous races. all of webber’s whining afterwards sounded pretty thin to me. this wasn’t like villeneuve and pironi at imola in 1982, or even irvine and salo in 1999 (different outcome); webber could have fought back if he was quick enough. but he was bested.

            notably, in the same race, rosberg tried to attack hamilton for 3rd place but eventually relented after obeying team orders. at the time i was excited about the fact rosberg was quicker than hamilton in race but disappointed that he wasn’t able to get the job done on track – and i feel this cemented their racing relationship thereafter. by contrast vettel asserted his dominance (as he had in previous years) like a champion.

          2. @frood19 The real elephant in the room is that Vettel was told to hold position, so Webber had turned his engine down. In this sense, the cars weren’t at all equal as Vettel had 50ish more horsepower to play with.

            I think the example of Rosberg/Hamilton vs Vettel/Webber is an interesting example of the difference in team management and internal politics. Ross Brawn was able to assert authority on his drivers in a way Horner didn’t. You could argue that Horner’s hands were tied by Marko and the powerful pro-Vettel lobby at the head of RBR, but ultimately he didn’t control the situation and allowed Vettel to run riot. Ultimately I think Brawn will be remembered as the consummate team organiser who sat very much above his drivers, rather then being in thrall to one of them.

          3. @frood19 This is a very flawed reasoning. An agreement is an agreement. It was clearly described by Webber afterwards. And this argument about equal cars is debatable as well. There’s many different engine settings etc. The fuel is limited too. Imagine if you’d worked out according to the agreement so that you’re ahead and then only have enough fuel to reach the flag not fighting but then have the other party renege on the agreement. Psychologically is not easy either to re-engage after effectively settling in for the cruise to the checkered flag. Some find it easier than others and even if his failure to defend his position isn’t painting MW in a good light this whole situation paints the backstabber Vettel in a much worse light

            You say it’s not as bad as 1982 or 1999. Well that’s your opinion. In my opinion it’s as bad. And the failure to contain the spoiled brat Seb lays with the team. Which is the main topic discussed here with respect to Horner’s comments about Alonso. Our little CH is rightly afraid of MV vs FA. He’ll end up with egg on face more often than not. So of course he won’t take him. People will think even more poorly about his driver management skills(if that’s even possible).

          4. @montreal95 that’s a fair point about alonso and max. horner has clearly had awkward situations to deal with in the past and doesn’t fancy it again. but on webber-vettel, didn’t webber try and do exactly the same thing to vettel at silverstone in 2011? and then again more destructively in interlagos in 2012? the only difference is that vettel succeeded. I’m taking rather a glib view of this (i am actually a fan of webber, and vettel to a smaller extent) but it seems to me that from the team’s point of view, the bottom line is they want a winner.

            red bull have had two significant intra-team disasters (turkey 2010 and baku this year) and in both cases they were obviously hoping the winner would assert himself without them having to resort to team orders. it’s a similar approach to mercedes in 2014, which on the whole worked well for them.

      2. By 4 you mean 8 championship.

        While Fernando won 0 and Ferrari with it.

        Despite Fernando being awesome It is not hard to see that almost everywhere he leaves on bad terms and teams are going crazy while he is there.

    2. Horner managed 4 straight drivers’ and constructors’ championships though. I think Alonso brings a whole different kind of trouble that RB doesn’t need right now.

      Besides, I don’t think Alonso would be keen to be driving a Honda again… that thing in the RB is going to be a train-wreck next year. He’s been completely irrelevant for 4 years now and needs to either get a proper team or join a different series.

    3. The difference is that Vettel was/is massively better than Webber. Let’s not forget that, while Vettel got 4xWDC, Webber didn’t once make second place in the WDC. Alonso would, at the very least, perform at the same level Ricciardo is now or better.

      1. Jonathan Parkin
        9th August 2018, 7:43

        However if you read Mark Webber’s book, it mentions that it was important to RB that someone from their driver programme won the WDC and not Mark. Certain team members were disappointed that Mark won the German GP because they wanted Seb to win. Although they said the right things in public in private it was completely different. As regards Seb as a driver, yes he won 4 WDC but the minute he didn’t have a car that let him qualify on the front row and zoom into the distance he got soundly beaten by Daniel Riccardo who won three races that he wasn’t supposed to win

        1. Let me remind you and anyone who discredits Vettel achievements is that there have only been 5 individuals in the history of Formula1 to have won 4 or more world titles including Lewis and Seb. Just the statistical probability of that happening proves it to be no fluke. Does not matter if you had better aero or more powerful engine. The end result is what matters.

          Even less have won 4 titles on the trot. One cannot even imagine what it takes out of a driver to go through such an achievement. In my Point of view Seb was not motivated enough that year. You could see from his body language, the car was not a championship contender and he had nothing to prove to anyone.

          Danny is no match for Seb. This is not the WWE in which when you beat an opponent you end up taking his belts!

        2. As regards Seb as a driver, yes he won 4 WDC but the minute he didn’t have a car that let him qualify on the front row and zoom into the distance he got soundly beaten by Daniel Riccardo who won three races that he wasn’t supposed to win

          Parkin, funny thing that Vettel didn’t had that kind of car last season, and almost won the title. Additionally, the only car with that description Vettel got is the RB7, while the RB9 dominance was mainly due to the upcoming change of regs that prompted everyone to drop the development by half-season.

          @invictus Congratulations on being one of the rare to approach this nonsense about Seb and Dan with lucidity.

    4. Whilst I can never see this happening, and with Honda engines next year I don’t think it matters, seeing drivers of the calibre of both Alonso and Button closing out their careers in pathetic, uncompetitive cars is one of the great tragedies of modern F1. The sport just doesn’t seem the same without these two fighting it out at the front for the title.

    5. Having a laugh, are we. On-track and off-track chaos aren’t in the same postcode – the former lasts a weekend, the latter leaves repercussions for years.

      Webber/Vettel was the former, Alonso very much dishes out both.

  2. Just do it for a year, RedBull!

  3. It would be great though to have Alonso and Verstappen in the same team, even if only for a single season.

    1. Haa… I thought your sentence will end:”….even if only one of them will finish the race”.

    2. Yes, they complete each other, at this age verstappen should be a little faster than alonso but alonso would make a lot less mistakes, much like ricciardo and verstappen are doing now, and I think alonso would be closer.

  4. Proud_Asturian
    8th August 2018, 23:24

    Hahahah, as if they want that washed up has-been!!!

    Horner is just being nice.

    1. Bernie's Marmalade Gendarme
      9th August 2018, 13:14

      Really. When was the last time Alonso was outperformed by his team mate?

      1. Alonso’s interests lie outside of F1. No real competitive driver would swan off mid season to win a race elsewhere. The sooner the ‘Husk’ retires the better. Horner is right not to touch him. Alonso is just cashing it in and laughing all the way to the bank.

      2. 11 seasons ago – and even then, that’s up for debate

  5. RedBull spends a fortune on driver development programmes and choosing any driver that is not from there would be a big FU to all those working with those drivers.

  6. Alonso has demonstrated with his attitude over the years that he is the worst driver in the history of Formula 1 from the sporting point of view.
    Obviously he is a good pilot.
    But that means nothing. At the end of the day he will always be remembered for having made his teammate collide (in complicity with his bosses) against a wall in order to win a race. (Singapore 2008).

    1. Do you have any proof to back this allegation up?

      1. C’mon, you don’t think he knew?

        1. Gabe, that is the problem with this debate – those who think ill of Alonso are predisposed to the line that “well, he must have known anyway” even though there is no evidence to that end, and there is no way of reasoning with that line of thought once that prejudice is ingrained.

          In this situation, Jorge has an obsession – a slightly disturbing one at times – with hating Alonso, so with him there is no way of trying to reason with him when the attitude that he displays wasn’t reasoned into him to begin with.

          1. @anon
            Alonso must have known about the crash otherwise he would have fired Briatore as his manager instantly the moment this scandal came out. But surprise surprise, Briatore is still Alonso’s Manager 10 years after the crash. That tells us all we need to know whether Alonso knew about the crash or not.

          2. “In this situation, Jorge has an obsession – a slightly disturbing one at times – with hating Alonso, so with him there is no way of trying to reason with him when the attitude that he displays wasn’t reasoned into him to begin with.”

            Two years later, we still got to know if it really is him.

        2. Judging by the team strategy debacle at the 2010 Abu Dhabi season finale, where Alonso didn’t choose to think wiser than the team did, I’d say there really is no proof or no inclination to think he was involved in crashgate.

      2. MB (@muralibhats)
        9th August 2018, 4:57

        Crashgate, spygate .. he survived. Does it mean he didn’t know? Lack of evidence and face saving measures helps him. Cant label a world champion as fraud – bad for the sport.

    2. Kyle Basaglia
      9th August 2018, 0:07

      But nobody is talking about how Verstappen has wrecked Ricciardo not once, but twice in the past year?

      1. It’s funny how some can twist things to fit their opinion…..

        Verstappen slightly touching Ricciardo side and Ricciardo crashing into the back of Verstappen is the same thing… and both Verstappen’s fault. Both RBR and the FIA disagree with you.

        1. I’m sorry, the Baku crash was mostly Verstappen’s fault. We’ve all been saying for some time that his tendency to make very late moves (as he did with Raikkonen in Hungary and Belgium ’16) would ultimately come back to bite him. When Verstappen moved as late as he did in the braking zone, Ricciardo was then a passenger without half his front downforce to help stop the car.

          1. Both RBR and the FIA disagree with you.

            REPLY

            Roland Grant
            9th August 2018, 10:12

            I’m sorry, the Baku crash was mostly Verstappen’s fault

            again..

            Both RBR and the FIA disagree with you.

            RIC lost control and could not avoid a crash.. lesson learned: never drive so close to your forerunner..

        2. Of course Red Bull agreed with Golden Boy- Max cant weave how he did under braking. They did the same to Seb and Mark in Turkey, and they got that wrong as well.

    3. ‘Worst sporting driver’ are you joking! have you blanked the Schumacher years from your memory!

      1. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
        9th August 2018, 12:47

        ‘Worst sporting driver’ are you joking! have you blanked the Senna years from your memory!

    4. “the worst driver in the history of Formula 1 from the sporting point of view.”
      You are kidding right? Worse than the guy who crashed his car into others intentionally? Worse than the guy who ruined his chances to win the championship by his own mistakes these years?

  7. Great shame that Alonso today is better than he was when he won the championship, but there’s zero possibility of him getting into a good enough car to even finish on the podium…

    Really hope he ditches F1, finishes the WEC season and heads off to Indy. Pointless him hanging around at McLaren.

    1. Agree with that!

  8. There he goes – Mr. Horner is flattering himself again. Truth be told, Alonso would never jump from McLaren to RBR for many reasons.

    1. Despite all the hoopla, Honda has proven very little this year. If RBR had a snowball’s chance in hell of giving him a chance at a WDC next year, I’m sure he be tempted. But they don’t. And in fact they RBR have already stated they don’t expect a lot next year. Merc and Ferrari will dominate again next year – those are the only seats he’d be interested in.

    2. He’s got it very nice at McLaren to say the least. He’s making 30 million, he’s able to advertise his brand, he’s free to drive LeMans, the Indy 500, LeMans and drive for McLaren when/if they join Indy car.

    3. He really gets along with Zak Brown. Why would he want to jump ship and have to deal with Marko, Horner and the golden boy? Ricciardo left because he saw the handwriting on the wall – VER is the chosen one.

    RBR is stuck with either getting a young aggressive driver such as Gasly or Norris or older more experienced decent drivers like Grosjean or Perez. Sainz is out of the question because he won’t play the rear gunner role and would cause “chaos”. Kimi would be good because he is level headed but why would he drop Ferrari for a lesser team?

    Alonso couldn’t cause chaos at Red Bull because they are already in chaos. They gambled on Honda , their best driver walked and James Key, Newey’s successor has left as well. And Versteppen causes as much if not more chaos than Alonso.

    Truth be known, whoever takes the seat will have to yield to VER and very few are willing to do so. He is a difficult teammate. It will be interesting to see who they choose because Horner says the have so many options. But are there good options? I expect lots of fireworks in the RBR garage next year. Maybe Newey will walk next. Why deal with that circus?

    1. Brilliant comment, +1.

    2. To answer point 3, which I think trumps all, is ‘it’s his last realistic opportunity to have a race winning car’.

      1. And you think RBR will have a race winning car next year with a Honda engine? He wants a WDC, Re and Merc are the only teams that can deliver that…

        1. I think it’s almost a given that Newey will provide a potentially race-winning chassis most years. Sure, Honda won’t be the strongest engine, but it’s appeared more reliable than the Renault lump this season, and hasn’t been a million miles off in terms of speed.

          All in all, you’d imagine Alonso would relish the opportunity to drive a Red Bull over a hapless McLaren. I also think it’d be a real statement of intent from Red Bull, who have just lost a great driver, and replaced him with who many still think is one of the best on the grid.

          A Max/Alonso line-up sounds an awful lot more aggressive than a Max/Gasly line-up, and in terms of branding and PR, it’s a no-brainer filling the Daniel void with Alonso.

          1. @ ECW……
            The Honda engine has had multiple ICU failures (12?) so hardly bullet proof.
            Alonso has scored points in all but 2 races he finished with the Renault engine and has a lot more points this year than last to show for it.
            So why jump to a team with an engine supplier that has failed in the past and hasn’t proven there going to be competitive next year.
            No way Alonso wants that seat – he wants to win next year and it isn’t going to happen at McLaren or RBR, Newey or not. Indy car for him I’d guess.
            Horner says they have lots of options which means none are anything to get excited about – similar to the guy with a lot of girlfriends.
            Their best move would be to get RIC to stay:)

    3. @Mick I agree with your first two points. As to Max being the chosen one? He’s made himself that, no? Consistently outqualifying and running ahead of DR in races. The only chaos Max has caused has been from his own carelessness at times, which it seems since Monaco he has tamed. Max is a difficult teammate for sure, due to his pace and nothing else. His teammate will not have to yield to him if he can keep ahead of Max. And I can’t see Newey walking when he has a new challenge in helping marry the Honda Pu to his car. No fireworks, no circus next year, just nose to the grindstone hard work.

      1. @Robbie
        When I say the “chosen one”, I am referring to Horner saying they want to build the team around VER. Nothing wrong with that but to think a quality driver like RIC is going to hang around an atmosphere like that was….silly. Marko said RIC had no other option – wrong!

        VER is not just a bad teammate because he is faster than his teammate, he’s a bad teammate because he is willing to wreck his own teammate rather than get passed by him (on more than one occasion).

        Sure he is fast and talented, but it’s unharnessed and he doesn’t seem to learn from mistakes partly due to his refusal to acknowledge them as so. To continue making mistakes after 3 plus years in F1 is troubling . Is he faster than RIC? I think so. But RIC is fast enough AND measured, rarely makes mistakes, and brings the hardware home in one piece which more than makes up for the slight difference in speed.

        Newey has talked about hanging it up in the past. He was also instrumental in getting Renault engines in RBR in the past. I can’t believe he’s happy with working with a couple of youngsters developing the new chassis. BTW, he wanted ALO in the past but Marko over ruled him.

        I think RBR’s arrogance has caught up to them. Maybe they will come out of it fine, time will tell.

    4. He’s making 30 million, he’s able to advertise his brand,

      he does not receive his salary and can advertise his brand as a compensation.

      They gambled on Honda , their best driver walked and James Key, Newey’s successor has left as well.

      Key, does not work for RBR
      Their “best driver”?
      Not if you look at quali and the gigantic quali time difference, (.6sec !) not if you look at number of places in the lead of his teammate and only a slight point difference halfway as a result of another mechanical Renault failure.

      1. “he does not receive his salary and can advertise his brand as a compensation.”

        I have no idea what your statement means but it’s incorrect in any case.

        I didn’t say he did work for RBR. He works for Torro Rosso but works closely with RBR and Newey and was marked to take over for him when he retires.

        Qualifying doesn’t mean squat. Racers get paid for how they finish on Sunday. RIC is a better all around driver.

    5. Wow, doesn’t look good, if newey leaves as well, as one who kept criticizing ricciardo’s move, it might start to make sense, losing ricciardo, losing newey, getting an unproven engine might really remove red bull from the A teams, and then it’ll be up to renault to try and join mercedes and ferrari.

  9. I’m not even slightly remotely an Alonso fan, and I’m so much rooting for this to happen…
    I can barely imagine how is the actual Alonso fanbase hoping for it.
    Anyway, Kubica is still available, Mr. Red Bull, just so you know.

  10. The Dolphins
    9th August 2018, 2:52

    Can’t Christian Horner just be honest and say that Red Bull is not in the business of paying a proper wage for good drivers. They’re in the business of child labour and selling soda.

    1. The Dolphins
      9th August 2018, 2:53

      My mistake, the punchline “Can’t Christian Horner just be honest” should be at the end of the joke.

    2. The Dolphins
      9th August 2018, 2:53

      My mistake, the punchline “Can’t Christian Horner just be honest” should be at the end of the joke.

  11. I think Alonso would die of hysterics if someone offered him a position back with Honda… What a laugh :D Some lowkey digs with the end of career comments too.

    I didn’t even know there was an official f1 podcast now, definitely going to give it a listen.

    1. Good point yeah. Not to mention that Honda woold probably be less than keen to have Alonso commenting on their engines on air too!

      Can you imagine the fireworks from Alonso, Helmut and max all pushing the team into their preferred directions at once. Horner at the sidelines talking about how everything is going great, the Honda is making progress (funny how he felt the need to say that surely Ricciardo leaving had nothing to do with no confidence in Honda) And Mateschitz having to step in and sort the mess.

      On track I can imagine Max and Fernando working together fine, until it comes to fights on track :-)

  12. There’s a chance for Liberty Media to make a deal with Red Bull to put Alonso in the other car. This kind of stunt will make Liberty and Red Bull richer exponentially. Liberty gets the show and Red Bull gets publicity.

    1. Yes, the publicity value would be enormous, both for F1 and Red Bull. Old legend up against the star of the future. Even local rags would surely cover it. Any controversy or clash would just enhance the show, but I bet Alonso would anyway be on his best behavior.

      In the words of Brundle about Sainz: If he doesn’t get a strong drive in F1 next year it will be a travesty, annoy me intensely, and reflect badly on F1.

  13. There’s really no story here. RBR will continue to nurture young talent as it’s been so successful for them both in terms of wins and brand marketing.

    Why would they change a winning formula.

  14. Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
    9th August 2018, 7:06

    With Red Bull losing their more consistent driver it would make massive sense to get someone in with Fernando’s dependability to haul big points in every race weekend. Especially short term until we find out if Gasly is the real deal or not, I’m not convinced Sainz is (I wasn’t about Gasly either until his performances this season). Then again Christian’s comments plus the water under the bridge with Honda means this would be a massive surprise to say the least.

  15. I don’t think Alonso fits the Redbull image. I don’t think it’s just about driver ability.
    They will probably go young and Max will have to shoulder even greater responsibility in the garage and with the marketing side of things. Not that he doesn’t smash it in certain markets.

    1. Would have been interesting to see an experienced legend and a young superman in the same team – mouth watering prospect!

  16. The one thing we know for certain: Fernando came bursting through the factory walls of Milton Keynes like the Kool-Aid Man trying to get Daniel’s seat.

    1. Wanting his favourite Honda engine back :-)

  17. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
    9th August 2018, 8:13

    They want Kimi.

  18. Iḿ afraid Alonso is done. I had really hoped to see him in a potent car.

    Horner might be on to something though, teams do tend to go into chaos around Alonso and without further insights in his day to day handling of his job, its hard to say what is the actual cause.

    Red Bull will most likely promote Gasly, making Verstappen the senior of the team. Verstappen has already “Matured” a lot in this season, I dont see why that shouldn’t continue in 2019.

    Red Bull has always been young and fast. Alonso is old I am afraid….and that is sad, since I am older then him =/

  19. YellowSubmarine
    9th August 2018, 8:28

    Alonso reaping what he sowed…

  20. Please put Stoffel in the 2nd car! The guy deserves a chance, he has won in every class he has raced in, races and championships.

  21. Haven’t seen any chaos at McLaren with Alonso for the last number of years…his reputation proceeds him.

    1. Most of the MCL team is in chaos.. not sure if they needed FA for that ;)

    2. YellowSubmarine
      9th August 2018, 23:51

      McLaren lost hundreds of millions of dollars in Honda support and payments, as well as a de facto works team status, at least partly because of Alonso’s incessant whining and his embarrassing and disrespectful words, to the entire world on team radio, about Honda’s engine and the efforts of the team. In some cases, he retired the car claiming the engine had broken down – only for Honda to find no problem with the engine.
      He caused, at the very least, financial chaos at McLaren!

      1. Yes, true that and wouldn’t be the first time, remember the 100 mil dollars fine in 2007!

        1. @esploratore
          And Ferrari who were equally to blame got nothing and went on to employ Alonso, Hmmm

        2. 100 miliion dollar fine for cheating orchestrated by Ron Dennis.
          Do you not agree it’s a good thing he was caught or are you of the ilk that it’s OK to commit such a crime and get away with it?

  22. Alonso won’t cause any trouble if you are a strong team principal, I’m afraid none of the current team principal have what it takes to deal with a strong personality like Alonso.

    1. @zoomracing – agree with that comment, Ross Brawn may have been the guy to do this, on the current grid Maurizio or Toto maybe the only others. Horner does a great job of managing an F1 team, but not so good at managing drivers.

    2. @zoomracing

      Ron Dennis was the only team boss who not only had the bottle to employ two top drivers but was also strong enough. He very nearly had Schumacher and Hakkinen as team mates. We are now in an era of bottlers, yet certain drivers get the flack.

  23. Alonso and Verstappen would have made a fiery combination!

  24. This is quite a reputation that Alonso will have to bear till the end of his career in Formula 1, I guess. Undoubtedly talented but difficult to manage. Luck has also been a factor as in the last few years, he has not got a competitive machine (engine and chassis working well together).

  25. Peppermint-Lemon (@)
    9th August 2018, 13:03

    Given equal opportunities in the same team Alonso would break Verstappen – and likely any other teammate he comes across in the current field.

    There is no way RB will take that risk.

    Forget Alonso supposedly causing chaos – the only time he has ever done this is when he has not had the full support from a team that his talent should command. McLaren is case in point – he went totally off the rails because Ron Dennis was creating an intrateam environment where the entire team were racing Alonso…who wouldnt react badly to that?

    Additionally, when he needs to be counted on time and again to pull a result from a bad car – he delivers. In recent times only Schumacher was better than Alonso.

    I think Alonso may take a year off next year, have a rest, do some other racing series maybe, and come back in 2020 with a refreshed outlook and into a more competitive team. He will sign for 2020, with an option for 2021. After that he will call it a day.

    1. @peppermint-lemon Yes, if Verstappen is their boy and future, and if they really do play favorites as some will have it – then that would explain not risking an ageing star beating him and could be the “chaos” Horner is referring to here.

      I wonder who really calls the shots when it comes to driver selection at Red Bull, but if it is Mateschitz he must surely see the marketing value of this. Red Bull for young and old, and not afraid of any ‘locking of horns’.

      1. I wonder who really calls the shots when it comes to driver selection at Red Bull

        It is Helmut Marko.

  26. jamesluke2488
    9th August 2018, 13:41

    Fernando is in my opinion better than Max at the moment and better than any young driver who Red Bull are likely to sign.

    If Chris had any backbone he would go and get the best driver available. They dont need a youth driver they have Max who is 19. He is the future. Alonso would come in and take the team up a level and Max would benefit from that. They need to stop looking for excuses and sign Fernando, the guy is driving so well, give him a car with a chance of winning the title and he may well win it. Whats better having a youth driver to grow for the future? Or a world championship? Give me a World Championship any day.

    SIGN ALONSO

    1. Indeed, would make sense to get alonso, but you also have to see if he wants to come, honda engine, and what honda would say!

  27. They wont take Alonso (as Horner says) but to be honest I wouldn’t see him pushing Max forward in his driver development, he has 4 or 5 wins at 20, but maybe help helping with set up and car development. Be great to see but Red Bull don’t want another Mark & Seb, and Max is young but good enough to run as a lead driver I think. Gasly will get it.

  28. petebaldwin (@)
    9th August 2018, 14:25

    Sad but true.

    (dum…… dum dum dum dum)

  29. Two of the biggest scandals in F1 in recent memory. Alonso was there at some level (if not right in the middle) with both.

    (Spygate & Crashgate if you need reminding – apologies for the use of …gate).

    Even if he were as good as Hamilton or Vettel, I wouldn’t touch him with a hermitically sealed bargepole.

    1. Who spied on who? As for Crashgate, that was a left over of Schumacher’s legacy.

    2. @psynrg
      As long as we are playing the “gate” game, let’s get into Hamilton’s part in Liegate. Have you heard of it?

      In case you know about it but have forgotten or are unaware, read the link below and please respond to my post and let me know if you think Hamilton was clearly guilty or not. He lied until he knew he was caught. And don’t give me the “he was a victim” excuse. Ron Dennis of course was in the middle of it.

      The fact is Hamilton is no better than Alonso. With Spygate, McLaren, or should I say Mr. Ron Dennis cheated and would have been found out whether Alonso turned them in or not. It’s divine justice he was caught.

      I get so tired of pompous fans shredding Alonso while the golden boy consistently rips his team apart on the radio for the world to hear at any mistake. It was the same at McLaren. He’s no angel.

      https://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/motorsport/formulaone/lewishamilton/5133137/Lewis-Hamilton-and-McLaren-face-new-Lie-gate-revelations.html

  30. I see Fernando as done at F1. He’s just wasting time regarding his pursuit of prooving himself he’s the better among his pairs.

    1. sunglasses?

      1. It’s not sunny out here, thank you.

  31. …the better among his pairs.

    Just a correction, though. Among his peers.

  32. itiswhatitisnt
    10th August 2018, 0:25

    Alonso has been unlucky for some years now. Fortunately, Alonso isn’t the reason why teams have under-performed in terms of development and speed for Alonso to challenge for the WDC despite him coming 2nd in 2010 and 2012 with Ferrari which was 1.5 seconds slower than RedBull cars in that era.

  33. MG (@itiswhatitisnt)
    10th August 2018, 0:28

    Alonso has been unlucky for some years now. Fortunately, Alonso isn’t the reason why teams have under-performed in terms of development and speed for Alonso to challenge for the WDC despite him coming 2nd in 2010 and 2012 with Ferrari which was 1.5 seconds slower than RedBull cars in that era.

    1. Ferrari which was 1.5 seconds slower than RedBull cars in that era.

      /s

  34. Alonso caused ‘chaos’ for McLaren in 2008. Beat the driver who replaced him and beat Lewis for almost the second half of the season, in an inferior car
    “weird” Lewis then went on to play is own part in McLaren’s decay to their state today.

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