Fernando Alonso had strong words for those who circulated unfounded rumours he was considering a move to Red Bull.
Speaking in the paddock at Interlagos on Thursday the Aston Martin driver made it clear no such move was ever under consideration and warned there would be “consequences” for those who claimed otherwise.“It’s just rumours, the normal paddock rumours from people that they are just try to make fun of it and gain some followers and these kind of things,” said the two-times world champion. “But I’m not into that game.”
He said he was “not enjoying” the speculation reported elsewhere. “In this room, I appreciate that all of you are journalists, professional people that have been in Formula 1 for so many years, and you gain your respect and this is how it should be.
“All the rumours are coming from people that are not in this room are just here to make fun. I think it’s not funny when they play with anything.”
Alonso admitted he is concerned the rumours might make people question his loyalty to Aston Martin, who he joined at the beginning of the season and immediately scored a string of podium finishes with. “I will make sure that there are consequences,” he said.
Aston Martin’s form has dipped since the summer break and the team has slumped to fifth in the constructors’ championship. Alonso, who has only scored points in two of the last five rounds, admitted there is dissatisfaction within the team over how well their upgrades have performed this year.
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“Obviously we are not as competitive as we wanted and we are trying to get to our best level, which obviously is not the one that we are showing now,” he said. “We are analysing some of the upgrades that we brought lately.
“Here in Brazil we have a sprint format so maybe it’s a more traditional weekend for us not experimenting as much as as the last two. And obviously we are not happy, Mike [Krack, team principal] is not happy, no one is happy with the current form.”
However he stressed their current dip in form should be seen within the context of the significant progress they made during the off-season.
“This team was 250 people two years ago, now we are in this transition to be a hopefully a contender for the future, 800 people, new factory, seven podiums this year, 200 points more than last year, all these kind of things which are not the current form.
“We should not be happy, but we cannot even be too dramatic about the situation when this 2023 campaign has been a super season for us.”
He believes a top five finish is a realistic target for the team this weekend. “In Qatar, which was three races ago with the same cars, we qualified P4 we finished P6 and I went off in turn two and some other issues.
“So we just need to have good qualifying, start at the front part of the group and execute a good race. I still think that we need to put it all together, it’s going to be a challenge, but I will give my best to finish in the top five.”
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2023 Brazilian Grand Prix
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- McLaren surprised by margin over rivals at track Norris thought would be “tough”
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Esploratore (@esploratore1)
3rd November 2023, 10:05
So I read on other websites that there were 2 shocking options: replacing perez or retiring from f1, I would find the replacing perez option strange realistically speaking, as I don’t think red bull want to go with 2 alphas, even if they want ricciardo, they also know verstappen will surely have the measure of him, while alonso is more of an unknown, as in how competitive he could be against verstappen.
Retiring from f1, well, he is quite old now, so not so shocking, but he still looked competitive, so if the option of a decent car is on the table I think he will continue, even just with the goal to aim for some win, now that he got some podiums and 2nd places again.
With what he said here, I see how you can call this an improvement (overall) compared to the last season, but calling it a “super season” seems exagerated, the early part of the year of course, but when considering the whole season, I don’t see how it’s any better than the other seasons at racing point\force india, not to mention it took alonso to get these results, a perez or ocon wouldn’t have got these many points when the car was good.
Dominique (@tryneplague)
3rd November 2023, 10:15
There will be consequences.
David BR (@david-br)
3rd November 2023, 11:35
@tryneplague :)
I’m sure there will! Scary stuff…
Consequences, maybe, like an even better Aston Martin contract if he stays. Also until any deal goes through, ‘he would say that wouldn’t he?’
Frank
3rd November 2023, 13:01
He definitely still has his place on the grid, but Verstappen is currently closer to the faultless, ruthless 2006 version of Alonso than the great man himself.
It would be highly suprising if the old fox can still outrun a fellow all-time-great driver who is at the peak of his powers.
Esploratore (@esploratore1)
4th November 2023, 1:09
Yes, I agree, I was more thinking in red bull terms, as in why they are ok with ricciardo, if he performs at alpha rather than alonso: even if alonso gets overall outperformed by verstappen there could be friction in the team, and that could be a reason to not go for him.
Obviously as fans most of us want alonso in red bull.
Jere (@jerejj)
3rd November 2023, 10:26
He couldn’t be more right.
F1 is full of unfounded rumors that people are hell-bent to make up for clickbait purposes.
People should simply be realistic with their expectations.
floodo1 (@floodo1)
3rd November 2023, 12:02
He’s obviously correct that someone is “playing games” because the rumor makes no sense.
I’m pretty sure Alonso means “messing with” or “trying to harm me” when he says someone is “playing games” )-8
Sonny Crockett (@sonnycrockett)
3rd November 2023, 12:49
I don’t expect there to be any truth to the rumours but…
…that doesn’t mean that Alonso won’t do whatever suits HIM, to the expense of his team and anybody else.
Moshambles (@moshambles)
3rd November 2023, 12:59
“there would be “consequences” for those who claimed otherwise” Fernando’s been cracking me up this year
Sam
3rd November 2023, 14:08
If I was a betting man, I would put it 60% to 40% in favour of Verstappen beating Alonso over the course of the year. So I honestly think he would have a decent chance of a third world championship. Anyway, no idea if there is a word of truth to these rumours, and in honestly I wish he would quit F1 and join Indycar or WEC, but what a season it could be if he did join Red Bull.
Also, I know the preferred approach is having a number one driver and a number two, but I honestly question this from a marketing perspective. Senna vs Prost immortalised McLaren, whereas Schumacher, Verstappen or Hamilton walking to yet another world championship did not or does not exactly spark enthusiasm.
David
3rd November 2023, 15:55
As much as I love and respect Alonso, I’d say without Max missing multiple races because of an injury, there’s 0% at this point he would beat him over a season.
Don’t get me wrong Alonso is still phenomenal, but certainly can’t be at his peak at 43, plus add the fact how much Max is engrained at Red Bull at this point.
Best case scenario we could get a close title fight if Max had more technical issues over the season