HORNER: ALONSO WOULDN’T BE‘ HEALTHIEST’ FOR RED BULL
Team boss reckons alonso isn’t the right fit to replace ricciardo
Christian Horner appears to have ruled out a move for Fernando Alonso to replace Daniel Ricciardo in Red Bull’s Formula 1 team, saying that the Spaniard wouldn’t be “the healthiest thing” for the outfit.
Ricciardo, who has been part of Red Bull’s main F1 squad since 2014 and one of its juniors since 2008, surprised the organisation last week by agreeing a move to the factory Renault outfit for next year.
His decision has left a coveted, toptier F1 seat vacant, and this has led to suggestions Red Bull could offer twotime champion Alonso a route back to the sharp end of the grid – as the Spaniard has been mired in the series’ midfield since rejoining Mclaren in 2015.
However, in conversation with F1’s official podcast Beyond the Grid, Horner all but dismissed the Alonso possibility, citing both Red Bull’s existing homegrown talent and 37year-old Alonso’s reputation for causing intra-team upheaval.
“I’ve got huge respect for Fernando, he’s a great, fantastic driver, but it would be very difficult to see,” Horner said. “He’s tended 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.
“Our preference would be to continue to invest in youth [rather] than take a driver who is obviously close to the end of his career.”
Two Red Bull-contracted drivers in Pierre Gasly, who competes for Red Bull’s junior team Toro Rosso, and Carlos Sainz, who was loaned to Renault for 2018, are viewed as contenders to replace Ricciardo and partner Max Verstappen in 2019.
After Ricciardo’s shock move, Horner believes the Australian feared playing a ‘support role’ to Verstappen were he to re-commit his future to Red Bull.
“Daniel said he decided after a long flight to America that he wanted a change,” said Horner.
“If you look at the rational reasons for that, it’s difficult to understand.
“Daniel had his reasons. I think it comes back to wanting to take on, his words, ‘a new challenge’.
“But I also feel he sees Max growing and growing in terms of speed and strength and he doesn’t want to play a support role I guess, for want of better words.
“It’s not that they were treated in any way different. They would have absolute equal status, as they’ve always had.”
Horner said he could understand Ricciardo’s decision to leave “if it was to Ferrari or Mercedes” but said committing to Renault, which is fighting at the front of the F1 midfield as it rebuilds its works team, is “an enormous risk at this stage in his career”.
Alonso is understood to be in talks about extending his current spell with Mclaren into a fifth season in 2019 and is also considering a renewed assault on the Indy 500 alongside his World Endurance Championship super-season commitments for the Toyota LMP1 squad with which he claimed victory at Le Mans.