Fernando Alonso seeks a public apology from Red Bull for discarding his claims of being offered a drive by them for 2019.
Two times world champion had claimed that Red Bull F1 team had approached him for the seat being vacated by Australian driver, Daniel Ricciardo.
But Alonso announced his retirement from Formula 1 at the end of season. Pierre Gasly will be replacing Ricciardo on Red Bull’s team.
“It was not the case for me to join this adventure,” said Alonso.
Christian Horner, Red Bull Boss, revealed that Alonso was approached for a seat on the team in 2007.
Helmut Marko, Red Bull motorsport boss, rejected his claims of being approached by the team because Spaniard is a no fit for the team. He added, “We were negotiating with him in 2007 or 2008. His demands were very tedious back then.
“If you look at his history, in McLaren and Ferrari, it was always a one-man show.”
Alonso Response to Marko
Alonso hit back with more details about number of engagements with Red Bull over the years for a possible drive.
He said, “I had a couple of offers from Red Bull. In fact I had one in 2007, in 2009, in 2011, 2013, and two this year, one in Monaco, and one in August.
“The comments of Christian Horner this summer and Mr Marko are completely out of context, surprise comments about me creating chaos and being a difficult man to work with.
“One, they never worked with me, and secondly they’ve been chasing me for five or six occasions in the last seven years, and now they say that, that they are loyal to their programme and their commitments and their junior drivers.
“It has been weird, it has been unfair to me. I wrote to Christian after his comments this summer, he apologised by email, and hopefully he’ll apologise again this weekend.”
Red Bull stands with Marko
On Friday, Christian Horner supported the Marko’s rejection.
He said, “To be totally clear, there was no offer to Fernando Alonso for next year. He is a fantastic driver and a great talent, he has chosen his path.
“We had an inquiry from Flavio Briatore and from Liberty Media but the position within Red Bull has always been very clear.
“We invest in youth and have a talent pool through the Red Bull junior programme and as has been the case with Sebastian Vettel, (Daniil) Kvyat, (Daniel) Ricciardo and Max Verstappen, we were always going to draw on the talent we have.”
