6 times Fernando Alonso rejected Red Bull's offer in his career

Fernando Alonso's career is full of two things: sensational drives and questionable team choices. The Spaniard recently decided to move from Alpine, a team fourth in the standings, to Aston Martin, a team currently ranked ninth.

Whether this will work out or not is a question we do not have an answer to at the moment. However, what we do know is that, in the past, Alonso has made quite a few questionable choices when it comes to picking teams.

In this piece, we will be focussing on one particular team that Alonso said no to as many as six times in his career and that team is none other than Red Bull. According to Fernando Alonso, the outfit has approached him six times in his career, only for the Spaniard to decline.

Alonso claimed this in an interview with SkySports in 2018, although not all of these approaches have been confirmed by Red Bull. Regardless, let's take a look at the six instances when Red Bull's approach was rejected by the Spaniard.

2007 (Fernando Alonso: McLaren)

Fernando Alonso was first approached by Red Bull in 2007 when the Spaniard was looking for a way out at McLaren. Red Bull had been part of the sport for only two years and just had one podium to speak of. Alonso, a double world champion at the time, had options from Red Bull, Renault, and Toyota. Alonso ultimately went to Renault, the team he won his titles with in 2005-06.

Speaking to SkySports in 2018, Alonso explained why he went for Renault.

“At that time, to be honest, I had a tough decision to make at McLaren. I had Red Bull, I had Toyota, and I had Renault coming back. I chose Renault just because they were family to me at that time, and Red Bull in 2007 were not very competitive, and Toyota were also struggling.”

2009 (Fernando Alonso: Renault)

In the 2009 F1 season, Red Bull had already emerged as a strong contender and frontrunner. Renault, on the other hand, were marred in the 2008 F1 Crashgate controversy. Alonso had a choice to make: Ferrari, the iconic brand, or Red Bull, the team that was on the rise at the time. Nonetheless, Prancing Horse prestige saw Alonso sign with Ferrari while Red Bull subsequently committed to Sebastian Vettel.

"It was a little bit of a stressful time — I had four days to decide. I was talking quite seriously with Ferrari, and at that time, I thought Ferrari was the safest thing and the best choice for the future and I’m still proud to make that decision. Maybe if you had a crystal ball you’d change that opinion, but you would not say no to Ferrari in 2009.”

2011 and 2013 (Fernando Alonso: Ferrari)

Now, the first two offers that we have mentioned here are corroborated by Red Bull as well. However, Red Bull's advances in 2011 and 2013 were not as, at the time, the Austrians were a dominant force and had built their team around Sebastian Vettel.

Having said that, according to Fernando Alonso, this was not the case as the team approached him during the summer break. In the end, Alonso revealed that he was happy with his time at Ferrari and was not looking for a change.

"I think it was more about [Mark] Webber at this time. He was always in doubt at this part of the year, around Spa, when there were many meetings. But I was happy at Ferrari. We were maybe not winning the championship and sometimes we weren’t competitive and it was a long time that we were not winning, but we were second in the championship three times."

Twice in 2018 (Fernando Alonso: McLaren)

The last time Red Bull offered a contract to Fernando Alonso was in 2018. At the time, the outfit was in a rebuilding phase as it didn't have a reliable power unit supplier in Renault. Fernando Alonso, on the other hand, was going through a torturous journey with McLaren. He wasn't able to make a meaningful run at the championship in a car that wasn't on pace with the frontrunners.

Alonso was retiring and Red Bull had Daniel Ricciardo leaving at the end of the season. It was then when the team approached the Spaniard, first during the summer break and then near the end of the season. Alonso declined both offers as he didn't think Red Bull could be a title contender, especially as they were running Honda engines in 2019.

Speaking to SkySports over why he didn't stay in F1 with Red Bull, Fernando Alonso said:

“I did not stay because winning now there are only two teams [Mercedes and Ferrari] and they continue with their drivers for the following years. I didn’t think that my targets or challenges next year were in Formula 1 anymore. The offers that I had were not, let’s say, for winning. The only offers I had were for teams who are more than one second off pole position."

“To be fifth, sixth, or seventh, I think there will not be the same challenges or the same enthusiasm that I can find away from Formula 1 in 2019. I made my decision a couple of months ago and I’m happy about that.”

For the 2023 F1 season, Fernando Alonso is signing with Aston Martin. Has the Spaniard learned the hard way when it comes to picking the right team for the future?