Rumors of Alonso to Red Bull gather pace
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, July 30, 2013
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Ferrari F1 driver Fernando Alonso of Spain (inset) drives ahead of Red Bull's Mark Webber of Australia at the Hungarian Grand Prix at the Hungaroring circuit in Budapest on Sunday. |
Fernando Alonso on Sunday tried to distance himself from speculation that he is considering a switch from Ferrari to partner defending champion Sebastian Vettel at Red Bull next year.
The two-time champion Spaniard said he was not aware that his management had gone to speak to Red Bull boss Christian Horner during the Hungarian Grand Prix and blamed the rumors on the media and Formula One's four-week European summer break.
"Always with four weeks with no Formula One it's a very dangerous period for us, and the media, but hopefully we will have a quiet summer," he told reporters.
He continued in enigmatic vein when pressed for an answer by the BBC and laughed when he said he could not say if he knew if his management had spoken to Red Bull.
He added: "I'm very happy. Of course, we need to improve the car if we are going to have chances to win the world championship."
Alonso's manager Luis Garcia Abad was seen entering the Red Bull motorhome at the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Abad told reporters that he had talked to Horner about rising Spanish prospect and Red Bull young driver Carlos Sainz junior, son of the former world rally champion.
Alonso has won two races this year - in China and in Spain - but has become increasingly frustrated at Ferrari's inability to be competitive in qualifying.
He finished a distant fifth in Sunday's Hungarian Grand Prix won by Lewis Hamilton of Mercedes and is now 39 points behind the defending triple world champion Vettel in the title race.
But his hopes of gaining Vettel's support for a switch to the Milton Keynes team as a replacement for retiring Australian Mark Webber were not encouraged. After Sunday's race in which he finished second behind Hamilton, Vettel said he would prefer to be partnered by Kimi Raikkonen, who finished third for Lotus, than Alonso.
"Well, I have to be careful," said Vettel. "But I know Kimi on and off the track and he has always been very straight in every way with me so I think I would prefer to have him even if I respect Fernando completely as a driver."
Horner did nothing to nip the rumors in the bud.
"We're in a fortunate position where there is quite a lot of interest in the seat for next year," he said when asked about Alonso.
"Any conversations between any other drivers or any other parties are always going to remain confidential," added Horner when it was pointed out that his words hardly constituted a denial.
"Of course there have been quite a few drivers who have expressed an interest in the seat, as you can imagine," said the Briton, who had spoken earlier in the weekend of some surprising approaches from inside and outside the paddock.
Asked whether Alonso was an option, he merely replied: "Is Alonso available? I don't know. You ask him?"
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