Credits: IMAGO Motorsport Images
A huge amount of the spotlight for the 2024 F1 silly season is likely to be on Fernando Alonso as the Spaniard’s contract with Aston Martin expires at the end of this campaign. There are rumors that the 42-year-old could potentially join Red Bull and team up with three-time world champion Max Verstappen. Amid such speculations, former F1 driver Christijan Albers has explained why the two are unlikely to form a good team.
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While speaking on De Telegraaf’s F1 podcast (as quoted by gpblog.com), Albers said, “This is just an ’emergency plan’ from (Christian) Horner in case Verstappen leaves. You absolutely cannot put the two side by side.”
“That won’t go well at all. Then everyone can say Alonso has calmed down, but that really won’t work out. Alonso is really not going to let himself be finished in his last year of driving F1“.
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As per the ongoing reports, many believe that Alonso will end up replacing Verstappen at Red Bull. These reports claim that there is a chance that the Dutchman could leave Milton Keynes due to the ongoing turmoil within the team.
Signing Alonso in that case would be a good short-term solution for Red Bull. Otherwise, if Verstappen and Alonso team up, the team dynamics could take a hit, hence Albers’ comments. Both are world champions, and incredibly competitive, so neither will likely settle for being the number two driver for a race-winning outfit.
There are other drawbacks of signing Alonso too. While he is still competing at the top of his game at 42 years old, it isn’t clear how long he will remain in F1. Because of this, Red Bull could turn to other drivers, who could prove to be long-term options.
Red Bull may ignore Fernando Alonso to seek more long-term options
Even if Max Verstappen decides to stay put at Red Bull, it is pertinent to note that Sergio Perez’s contract is also expiring with the team at the end of the 2024 season. As a result, there is a possibility that the team may want to seek a driver who can replace the Mexican.
Assuming that Red Bull does not want to sign someone like Fernando Alonso because of the Spaniard‘s age, they could also consider signing someone like Carlos Sainz. The 29-year-old is currently in his last year with Ferrari and is looking for a new team. In fact, after this heroics in Australia last weekend, his stocks seem to have increased and Christian Horner admitted to having the Madrid-born driver in his shortlist.
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Meanwhile, another driver who Red Bull could sign is Alex Albon. Since there is reportedly a civil war raging at Milton Keynes, Bild.de has reported that the team may consider signing Albon to appease the Thai owners.
The reports read, “Horner, however, would already have a successor in his sights in the event of a Verstappen loss with Alexander Albon. A Thai as world champion – the Thai majority owner would also like that“.
The 2024 silly season could prove to have a lot of exciting moves in store for fans. It all started with Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari (for 2025), and it is difficult to predict the final grid line-up for next campaign and beyond.
