BUDAPEST: The Formula One circus broke up for its European summer holidays yesterday awash with rumours that Red Bull had added Fernando Alonso to the short-list of contenders to partner the current world champion Sebastian Vettel next year.
In the wake of Lewis Hamilton’s dominant victory for Mercedes in Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix, the Formula One paddock was abuzz with rumours that Alonso’s manager had already held talks with Red Bull chief Christian Horner.
Ferrari claim that Alonso is under contract with them until 2016.
Both Horner and Alonso avoided direct statements to kill the story when they were confronted with it by reporters and Vettel himself talked openly about the prospect of partnering his Spanish rival.
Horner said: “Any conversations between any of the drivers and any of the parties will always remain confidential... But, of course, there have been quite a few drivers who have expressed an interest in the seat, as you can imagine.”
Asked about the potential dynamics of an Alonso-Vettel partnership, he added: “It would be interesting. At the end of the day, you have to think about what is right for the team.
“Obviously the pairing that we want to put together for next year has to be right for the team. Last week, there was speculation about Kimi (Raikkonen). This week it is about Fernando.
“I think, for us, we want to make sure that nothing waivers in our mind of putting together the right team package for next year with the two fastest drivers that we can, who will work collectively well together and achieve the best results for the team,” he added to reporters. AFP
