Fernando Alonso has claimed that Alpine F1 Team was not his only option ahead of his return to Formula 1 in 2021. The Spaniard claims that he also held talks with current championship leaders Red Bull Racing.

It was not the first time the two-time F1 world champion has spoken to the Austrian team. Red Bull Racing advisor Dr. Helmut Marko revealed in 2019 that Alonso had held talks to join the team when he left McLaren in 2008.

Alonso's tryst with Red Bull remains an unfulfilled dream as he was again linked with a move to the Austrian outfit in 2019. The Spanish racing driver is said to have turned down a move to replace Pierre Gasly midway through the 2019 campaign.

The 39-year-old has since returned to the grid for the 2021 season with Alpine. He recently admitted that he again held talks with Red Bull about joining them while denying that he had any contact with reigning champions Mercedes.

"I had no conversations with Mercedes, there were some with Red Bull," Alonso said, as quoted by Marca.

The former Ferrari and McLaren driver is considered among the best to have graced the sport. However, he decided to leave F1 at the end of the 2018 season after claiming that he was disillusioned about the direction the sport was heading in.

Alonso said that F1 was becoming too predictable with Mercedes dominating at the front with Red Bull and Ferrari being their only occasional challengers. He changed his mind after a two year hiatus following the F1 hierarchy's decision to make drastic changes to the regulations and level the playing field in 2022.

"I would not have returned to F1 without the new 2022 rules," he added. "I would like to say that I can be champion, but I don't know. The big teams have the oven ready and the rest of us have a lot to do and test. For next year all teams have the dream of catching up with the leaders "

Fernando Alonso
Fernando Alonso has agreed a new long-term deal with McLaren Getty