Christian Horner, former Red Bull F1 boss: “I was disappointed. I wanted to sign Fernando Alonso in 2025, but Marko told me on behalf of Verstappen’s team that they were not happy with that idea. Then he told me to forget about Leclerc too”

Red Bull’s interest in Fernando Alonso on several occasions throughout his career is no secret. The Asturian pilot himself confirmed it on several occasions. What was unknown is that Christian Horner, when he was Team Principal of the energy drinks team, wanted Fernando Alonso to occupy the position of ‘Checo’ Pérez for the year 2025 as Verstappen’s teammates. But something happened.

So Christian Horner himself states this in his biography, ‘Drive’which will go on sale next October 22. According to Horner, Helmut Marko and Verstappen’s team stopped that operation. Then, after that refusal to advance talks with Fernando, he thought about the option of Charles Leclerc, but someone within Red Bull rejected it. And also He assures that one of the candidates was Sainz, who still drove for Ferrari, but now without a place due to the arrival of Hamilton.

It was the Dutch newspaper ‘NU’ that dropped the bomb about what Horner said about this episode. And furthermore, It is also explained that Christian met with Carlos Sainz in 2025 to talk about his possible signing for Red Bull for 2026.but that precisely at that moment, Horner received the news of his dismissal as head of Red Bull.

“Sergio Pérez’s performance was unrecognizable compared to the driver he had been in previous seasons. I decided to start looking for a possible replacement,” explains Horner in his biography according to ‘NU’.

“During the Japanese Grand Prix, Fernando (Alonso) even told me that he would love to race alongside Max next season (in 2025). Afterwards, Helmut (Marko), “Apparently on behalf of Verstappen’s management team, he made it clear that they were not happy with that idea.”highlights the former Team Principal of the energy drinks team.

And he also spoke about Leclerc’s option: “I thought he could be the perfect driver for us.”

“He was fast, very strong on one lap and had a determined character. Of course, he made a mistake from time to time, something that Red Bull had benefited from, but, regardless of the circumstances, he never turned his back on Ferrari. Charles was a team player and had the feeling that he could fill the gap if Sergio continued to lose performance. Also, he seemed frustrated at Ferrari“Adds Horner in his book.

But both options were rejected. First, came the refusal to sign Alonso. Then, also for Leclerc.

“Shortly after, Helmut (Marko) told me to forget about Charles too. Just like with Fernando, it wasn’t going to happen,” says Horner, certain that it was not Max Verstappen who rejected that idea.

“I knew immediately that that order didn’t come from Max. But someone had decided at some point that it wasn’t the right move for Red Bull. I was disappointed,” he adds in his lines.

The Sainz option appeared for 2026 and there was a meeting

So, Red Bull decided to end its relationship with ‘Checo’ Pérez and bring its young driver, Liam Lawson, to Red Bull. But it didn’t work alongside Verstappen in 2025 either and Red Bull lowered him to give his seat to Yuki Tsunoda after just two races. But the Japanese also did not come close to Verstappen’s performance and went down with a car that was very difficult to drive. And then, The name of Carlos Sainz came out as a great candidate for the position after leaving for Ferrari, having recently arrived at Williams.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with that decision (to promote Lawson). He was young and inexperienced, with only eleven Formula 1 races under his belt, and we were demanding a lot from him,” said Horner.

According to Christian began looking for a replacement for Tsunoda for 2026 and met Carlos Sainz at the 2025 British GP.which had to find a place in F1 at a time when it had many teams interested in it, such as Audi, Alpine and Williams.

According to Horner, Sainz went to visit him at his house that time to talk.

“Sainz came to talk about a possible move to Red Bull for 2026. He was an experienced driver, a grand prix winner and a team player. I knew he would work his butt off for the team,” Horner says in his bio. But that came to nothing, since a few days later, Horner was announced that he was going to be fired as Team Principal of Red Bull.

Newey could have gone to Ferrari or Hamilton’s truncated signing

Furthermore, ‘NU’ assures that in Horner’s biography, titled ‘Drive’, the Briton reveals how Lewis Hamilton went to visit Adrian Newey in 2012 to talk about a possible signing for Red Bull and how Niki Lauda tried to sign him to become head of Mercedes that same year.

But that’s not all. Christian claims that he was the one who prevented Newey from going to Ferrari, convincing him to stay at Aston Martin with the opportunity to design a unique road car like the Aston Martin Valkyrie.