Christian Horner reveals how close Fernando Alonso was to joining Red Bull

Alonso had the option of joining Red Bull in 2009 but instead stayed at Renault before joining Ferrari in 2010

Christian Horner has revealed that Fernando Alonso “missed his chance” to move to Red Bull 15 years ago after turning down a two-year contract offer.

Alonso, a two-time world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006, was back at Renault in 2008 after a year to forget at McLaren in 2007, when he was involved in a high-profile squabble with rookie Lewis Hamilton.

Aspiring to be in a competitive car once more, Alonso was in talks with Red Bull at the end of 2008, Horner says, but instead stayed at Renault before joining Ferrari in 2010.

“We got very close to signing Alonso,” Horner told Motor Sport magazine.

“Helmut [Marko] and I went to see his management at the end of 2008 for the ’09 and ’10 season and we offered him a two-year contract.

“He would only sign up for one year and we said Red Bull’s position was a two-year deal or nothing and he wouldn’t commit to that. We thought he’d had a Ferrari contract very clearly for ’09.

“What was weird about that was that Flavio [Briatore] was involved as well, but he was trying to get him for Renault which he was managing at the time and in the end he drove for Renault.”

While Alonso failed to win another title, Sebastian Vettel won four championships in a row with Red Bull from 2010-2013, with Alonso finishing runner-up in three of those four years.

Fernando Alonso was offered a two-year contract to join Red Bull, says Christian Horner (Getty Images)

Horner added that Alonso’s management returned in 2009 to ask if the Spaniard could join Red Bull despite previously turning the team down.

“Halfway through ’09, I had an approach to say ‘could he join mid-season?’ because they thought he could win the championship in the car,” he said.

“Then we had another conversation in the back of an Alfa Romeo at Spa airport several years later in ’11 or ’12. Again, it never really… the most serious discussion was the first one and then it missed its chance.”

Alonso, at 41 years of age, is now at Aston Martin and is still chasing down Red Bull, with Max Verstappen leading the 2023 championship by 59 points to team-mate Sergio Perez.

Alonso is third in the standings, 71 points behind Verstappen, ahead of this weekend’s Canadian Grand Prix.