Christian Horner reveals Red Bull plot to sign Fernando Alonso

Red Bull's plan to sign Fernando Alonso from Aston Martin has been revealed by Christian Horner, as well as the reason why it never happened.

Horner was team principal of Red Bull from the team's inception in 2005 right up until he was dramatically dismissed after two decades at last year's British Grand Prix.

But in the run-up to his final season with the team, Horner has revealed the incredible plan in place to pair the two-time champion Alonso with the team's No. 1 driver Max Verstappen.

Red Bull had just ended 2024 with Verstappen hanging on to win his fourth world championship, but the team were forced into third place in the constructors' championship after their second driver Sergio Perez's form fell off a cliff.

While Verstappen was seeing off a late title challenge from McLaren's Lando Norris, the Mexican was limping along to eighth in the championship having not scored a single podium after the fifth round of the season.

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Christian Horner's Fernando Alonso plan

According to Horner, this prompted him with a plan to sign Alonso with Verstappen in what would have been one of the most highly anticipated driver pairings of all time.

But the former team boss admits in his new book 'Drive' that his idea was shot down by Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko on behalf of Verstappen, although the Dutchman himself never said no to the idea.

He said: "Sergio Perez's form was unrecognisable compared to the driver he had been in previous seasons. I decided to look for a possible replacement.

Horner recalled that the now 45-year-old had approached him about the possibility just four races into the 2024 campaign.

"During the Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando even told me that he really wanted to drive alongside Max the following season.

"Subsequently, Helmut (Marko), apparently on behalf of Verstappen's management team, made it clear that they were not happy with that idea."

Red Bull's Plan B (and C) failed

And that's that. Instead, Alonso to this day remains at a struggling Aston Martin, and Red Bull promoted Liam Lawson to the second Red Bull seat for 2025... then sent him packing back down to Racing Bulls after just two races.

Yuki Tsunoda then filled the seat for the rest of the season but just like Lawson and Perez before him never got anywhere near to Verstappen's pace.

Horner claims he was never convinced with the idea of throwing Lawson in the deep end, saying: "I didn't feel comfortable with it. He was young and inexperienced, with only eleven Formula 1 races to his name, and we were asking a huge amount of him."

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