Social media has been buzzing in recent days after Spanish journalist Albert Fabrega’s vague post on the platform X prompted some speculation regarding the future of several drivers, including Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso.
Fabrega teased that he had insider information from the paddock, sending the F1 community into a frenzy. He added that this was something he didn’t want to believe, but didn’t elaborate further. People quickly made a connection, assuming the rumour must have something to do with one of the two Spaniards on the current grid.
Most of the speculation centred around the possibility of an increasingly frustrated Alonso leaving Aston Martin, either to join a different team, or to retire altogether. Many envisioned the Spaniard replacing Sergio Pérez and becoming Max Verstappen’s new teammate at Red Bull as early as 2024.
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After a promising start to the season, Aston Martin started to visibly struggle, gradually falling behind their competition.
The US Grand Prix marked possibly the most difficult weekend for Alonso at the team to date. Aston Martin suffered a double Q1 elimination during Friday’s qualifying session, breaking Alonso’s streak of consecutive Q3 appearances in 2023. The team opted to change the set-up on both of their drivers’ cars, which meant a pit lane start on Sunday for Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll. What could have been an impressive recovery drive ended prematurely when Alonso was forced to retire from the race due to a mechanical issue.
Speaking to the media ahead of the São Paulo Grand Prix, Alonso finally had the chance to address the rumours himself—and he has unambiguously dismissed them, slamming the unwelcome speculation as a means of “gaining some followers.”
“It is just rumours, normal paddock rumours, from people that are just trying to make fun of it and gain some followers, and these kinds of things.”
“But I’m not into that game.”
Alonso added: “I am not enjoying [it] because even in this room, I appreciate that all of you are journalists, professional people, that have been in F1 for so many years”
“You gain your respect, and this is how it should be. So, all the rumours are coming from people that are not in this room, are just here to make fun and I think it’s not funny when they play with anything.”
The Spanish driver also expressed his annoyance at having his commitment to Aston Martin brought into question.
“Of course, that’s the thing that they are making, but I will make sure that there are consequences,”
Meanwhile, Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko suggested the source of the gossip may be… Alonso himself.
“As for the rumours about Alonso, I can well imagine that Alonso may have spread them himself, because his results with Aston Martin have been very disappointing recently after the brilliant start to the season. It wouldn’t be the first time he’s used his home media to stir up the mood,” Marko told F1 Insider.
He reiterated that Red Bull intends to stick with Pérez for the time being.
“This is completely baseless. Both Christian Horner and I have emphasised several times that Pérez will be driving for us next year as well, regardless of the results. He has a contract, and we will honour it!”
“Again, and for the record: We only have sporting goals in mind, which we will deal with until the last race in Abu Dhabi. And they are: we want to win all the races and secure second place in the Drivers’ Championship with Pérez.”
For his part, Alonso conceded that although team members are not satisfied with Aston Martin’s current performance, it’s important to remember the leap Aston was able to make from last year to this year.
“We are obviously not as competitive as we wanted,” Alonso said.
“But we are analysing some of the upgrades that we brought lately. Here in Brazil, we have a sprint format, so maybe it is a more traditional weekend for us, not experimenting as much as the last two.
“Obviously, we are not happy. Mike [Krack] is not happy, no one is happy with the current form. But at the same time, I said a few races ago, this team was 250 people two years ago, now we are in this transition to be hopefully a contender for the future with 800 people, and a new factory.
“Seven podiums this year, 200 points more than last year, all these kinds of things which are not the current form. We should not be happy, but we cannot even be too dramatic about the situation when this 2023 campaign has been a super season for us.”
