According to Marca and Motorsport.com, Red Bull have revealed that Fernando Alonso has made himself available for a return to Formula 1 next year.

Despite taking time away from F1 last year, the paper claims that Alonso has got in touch with them after recent rumours that Verstappen might leave and the obvious poor performances of Pierre Gasly.

Marca’s claims are backed up by a piece published in the Dutch language version of motorsport.com:

“Alonso’s representatives have let us know that he is available,” Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko told Motorsport.com

“But for Honda, Alonso is something impossible.”

It would come as no surprise to hear from many that Alonso is unlikely to return to a race seat for either McLaren Renault, or any Honda-powered team after recent seasons. Indeed yesterday McLaren announced their confirmed 2020 line up, sticking with Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris.

It appears that Alonso is also following the happenings with Sebastian Vettel and his recent retirement / move back to Red Bull rumours.

This offer from Alonso to Red Bull does come as a surprise given the public spat that occurred between the Spaniard and Red Bull boss Christian Horner last year after the driver claimed that team had offered him the opportunity to replace Daniel Ricciardo. But that being said, it’s ironic that Red Bull have made such a statement as last year it was Alonso who caught everyone off guard with his claim that he’d had 6 or 7 offers from Red Bull over the years via Sky Sports interview (below).

“I said no to offers, including one from Red Bull, because the projects weren’t winning ones,” Alonso said last September.

“My goals are no longer in Formula 1 at this point. I made my decision two months ago and I’m happy.” concluded Alonso.

Horner then sparked controversy when he admitted that Alonso wouldn’t fit into the team dynamic at Red Bull, however this is something the Spaniard refutes.

“There hasn’t been any confusion, I was disappointed with his comments in the summer about my way of working and my character,” Alonso said.

“He never worked with me and I don’t think the people who have will say they’ve had any problems……. It was strange to read this from someone who has never worked with me and has also tried to hire me several times in my career.”

Magnussen confirms why he was dumped

Kevin Magnussen lost his McLaren seat after the 2014 season, a single rookie season, despite an impressive debut against his far more experienced team-mate, the 2009 Drivers Champion Jenson Button. The Dane is certain that he was the victim of a power struggle at the top.

At the 2014 season opener in Melbourne, Magnussen secured himself a place on the podium – and rightly earned a lot of applause for it. The youngster made it eleven more times into the points and finished the season with 55 points overall. 

His much more experienced team-mate Jenson Button ended his season with 126 points, more than twice as many as Magnussen, finishing eighth in the standings. The paddock and F1 fans generally accepted that Kevin Magnussen had done a good job for a debut in a particularly uncompetitive car. Despite this, the Dane was……….. READ MORE

Breakthrough for Red Bull; problem of dirty airflow solved

According to Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport (AMuS), Red Bull Racing has made huge strides during the Austrian Grand Prix weekend with some updates started at the French Grand Prix.

Yesterday, the news outlet published a piece highlighting some updates Red Bull Racing has put on their car, enabling Verstappen to take his victory at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. TJ13 reported some time ago that Red Bull had produced a car for the 2019 season with some inherent aerodynamic flaws and the poor performances of the car weren’t just down to the Honda power unit, new for this season.

While Ferrari has been struggling with a lack of downforce throughout the season, it was not so much the problem for Red Bull. The designers at Milton Keynes have had a serious issue controlling the……… READ MORE