Toto Wolff, Mercedes Formula 1 team principal, believes Fernando Alonso to be one of the best drivers that he considers. But he won’t prefer him on his team rather he may considers Red Bull leading driver Max Verstappen for an opportunity hits.
Reportedly, Mercedes is believe to keep on engaging Valterri Bottas for 2020 driver line-up. However, team is also eager to find a place on Formula 1 grid for Esteban Ocon.
Whenever a position has to be considered on one of the best teams in Formula 1, Alonso name come-up for consideration.
Alonso, who won two world championship titles, announced his retirement from the sport last year. Many of his fans still awaits for his return to F1. Currenlty, he hasn’t announced his plans for the season of 2020.
If he chose to live-up to his F1 fans expectations, Mercedes won’t buy him on board alongside Lewis Hamilton.
“Fernando is undoubtedly one of the strongest drivers and after his adventures at Ferrari he no longer had the opportunity to drive a competitive car,” Wolff said in interview to a sports news agency.
“Due to a series of circumstances the top teams already have their “alpha” driver.
“Sometimes it’s not enough to be good at driving, you also need to have the right circumstances.”
Many of F1 enthusiastic would love to see Alonso and Hamilton side-by-side while competing each other. Wolff, however, made it clear that team won’t be considering Alonso to take on board.
“Yes,” he replied, “because we don’t want to repeat certain stories from when the two were together with McLaren.”
Given the history, two alphas on the same team would want to take the crown which would invite troubles at the team.
Wolff chose not to answer when he was asked whether he will consider Verstappen for the team when his and Red Bull engagement would end in 2021.
“That’s too far away,” he said, “we are fighting for the 2019 title and planning for 2020.”
Pressed as to whether Verstappen could fit on the ‘hypothetical Mercedes list’, Wolff said: “Everything is open after 2020.”
