Mercedes boss states Fernando Alonso “showed no interest” in replacing Lewis Hamilton next year

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff revealed Fernando Alonso "was not interested" in joining Mercedes next year. The Brackley team hasn't announced a replacement for Lewis Hamilton next season.

Hamilton is set to move to Ferrari in the next F1 season, leaving behind a vacant seat. So far, the team has not revealed the replacement, but it is said that they have considered several drivers. Recently, Toto Wolff admitted that 32-time race winner Fernando Alonso was one of the options early in the season, but he was "not interested."

"At the beginning of the year we considered the option of Fernando Alonso, but at that time Fernando was not interested in driving for Mercedes," Wolff told Mundodeportivo.

The 42-year-old has raced with Aston Martin since the 2023 season and has a reported contract till the 2026 season. In 2023, the team marked excellent development early in the season as they managed to stay in contention for the top three places.

However, as the season progressed, their development seemingly slowed down and they ultimately finished in fifth place in the championship. Currently, they look distant from championship contention.

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Toto Wolff claims Fernando Alonso would have won more titles had he managed his career "differently."

The Spaniard is the oldest driver on the grid. He has raced since 2001 and won two consecutive world championships in 2005 and 2006, bringing an end to Michael Schumacher's dominance at the time.

However, he has never managed to win a title since then. He got close in the battle with Red Bull in 2010, racing for Ferrari, but failed to win. Since then, he has remained out of contention.

Toto Wolff claimed that Fernando Alonso could have won more titles if his career had been managed differently.

"Fernando would have had many more titles if he had managed his career differently," Wolff said.

The 2023 season was the last when Alonso looked close to being in the top three. He was present on the podium multiple times but didn't win a race, as Max Verstappen and Red Bull remained undefeated for most of the season. Alonso's latest win came in 2013, racing with Ferrari in Spain.

Fernando Alonso on the podium after the 2023 Canadian GP

Although Mercedes were seemingly not in good shape at the start of the season earlier, they have managed to develop. George Russell won the Austrian Grand Prix last week after Max Verstappen and Lando Norris dropped out of winning contention in the final stages.