{"id":296435,"date":"2023-10-19T22:25:13","date_gmt":"2023-10-19T22:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/?p=296435"},"modified":"2023-10-19T22:25:13","modified_gmt":"2023-10-19T22:25:13","slug":"pole-position-fernando-alonso-to-red-bull","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/racing\/f1\/pole-position-fernando-alonso-to-red-bull\/","title":{"rendered":"POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull?"},"content":{"rendered":"<h1>POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull? Stranger things have happened! PLUS&#8230; global superstars David Beckham and Lewis Hamilton are cut from the same cloth<\/h1>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Fernando Alonso&#8217;s manager\u00a0Flavio Briatore met with Christian Horner in Qatar<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>But Alonso will certainly not be replacing Sergio Perez at Red Bull next season<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Casinos in Las Vegas are ruling the roost over the weekend start times\u00a0<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>One thing I have learned through sometimes bitter experience over the years is never to look a potential story in the mouth.<\/p>\n<p>So it is this column\u2019s happy duty to reveal that Flavio Briatore sat on the terrace of the Red Bull hospitality suite in Qatar in long conversation with Christian Horner.<\/p>\n<p>Briatore is Fernando Alonso\u2019s fabulously shrewd manager. The old goat is also Horner\u2019s mate and \u2014 hang on a minute! \u2014 poor Sergio Perez is struggling to drive so much as a nail right now. So you don\u2019t need to be a professor of logic to see how there could be a space opening up as Perez\u2019s replacement to take on Max Verstappen in the top machinery.<\/p>\n<p>I put this theory to Red Bull insiders but they insisted Alonso, 42 and in fine fettle at Aston Martin, is not in their thoughts for next season or the one after. \u2018Not a chance,\u2019 I was told.<\/p>\n<p>What we can be even more definitive about is that, however poor his form, Perez will not be axed before his home race in Mexico, seven days after this weekend\u2019s grand prix in Austin. That would be abysmal PR. It would anger sponsors and partners, and that\u2019s before you think of the hostile fan response.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76773837-0-image-a-23_1697750530840.jpg\" height=\"422\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Flavio Briatore (right) is the shrewd manager of Fernando Alonso and sat with Red Bull chief Christian Horner in Qatar\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76773853-0-image-a-25_1697750586505.jpg\" height=\"452\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>There could be a space opening up as Perez\u2019s replacement to take on Max Verstappen in the top machinery<\/p>\n<p>Red Bull are, of course, weighing up their options. They say their priority is to help Perez find his feet. He is signed up for next season, has been loyal and largely driven well, sometimes defending with brio at important moments, most memorably in Verstappen\u2019s championship-clinching race in Abu Dhabi two years ago.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He remains second in the championship table, a statistic which, if he holds on, would surely ensure his ongoing employment.<\/p>\n<p>Daniel Ricciardo, due to return here in Austin after breaking his left wrist in August, is on hand to move up from AlphaTauri should Perez flunk it. The Australian is first in line for the job, but, aged 34, is unlikely to represent a long-lasting solution. Don\u2019t forget, either, that four years ago he ran away from the fight with Verstappen to join Renault, laughing all the way to the bank.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76774755-0-image-a-45_1697752107474.jpg\" height=\"424\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>It would be a huge shock to see Alonso join Red Bull and insiders have stated he isn&#8217;t being considered<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76773913-0-image-a-24_1697750582366.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Red Bull say the priority is to help Sergio Perez find his form but he is in a precarious position after struggling this season<\/p>\n<p>The Ferrari duo, Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, are contenders for the longer term, along with the McLaren boys, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri.<\/p>\n<p>These impressive younger guns, perhaps easier to manage than Alonso and certainly with more road ahead of them, militate against the Spaniard forming half of the partnership the sport is crying out for. But stranger things have happened in Formula One. And, if it comes to pass, remember where you read it first.<\/p>\n<p><span>WHY WE\u2019LL TOAST FELLOW F1 ADDICT PARKES IN AUSTIN\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The season is clearly too long for purpose. Especially so when one man renders the outcome a foregone conclusion practically before it starts.<\/p>\n<p>Yet, Formula One remains a drug strangely so addictive that many of those who have snorted it as regular travellers on the road find it hard to kick.<\/p>\n<p>An example. A fellow journalist, Ian Parkes, who works for an Australian website and contributes to the New York Times, had major heart surgery in Northern General Hospital, Sheffield, on September 11. In the process, he suffered a collapsed lung and required an emergency pneumothorax.<\/p>\n<p>Five weeks later, he has flown 10 hours to Austin to report the race. Further good news is that prior to the operation Ian promised to stand a bottle of champagne for a few of his pals if his Maker didn\u2019t have alternative plans. One imagines it is a pledge he is even happier than we are that he is able to honour.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76774031-0-image-a-26_1697750817316.jpg\" height=\"435\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>Formula One remains a drug strangely so addictive that many of those who have snorted it as regular travellers on the road find it hard to kick<\/p>\n<p><span>CASINOS STILL RULE THE ROOST IN VEGAS<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Lights out in Las Vegas at 10pm local time on Saturday, November 18, serves only television\u2019s insomniac night owls on America\u2019s East Coast, where it will be 1am, and is only good for early Sunday risers in Britain, 6am, and Europe, 7am.<\/p>\n<p>The reason for the scheduling is that the casino and hotel owners insisted on it. This is their prime time on site, and if Formula One wanted to set up a stall on their turf, these were the terms.<\/p>\n<p>F1 bosses, who are holding their breath that the inaugural shindig on the Strip comes together, further factored in that diehards in Europe, bless their souls, will tune in regardless.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76774041-0-image-a-27_1697750868006.jpg\" height=\"475\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The Las Vegas GP will get underway at 10pm local time on Saturday because\u00a0casino and hotel owners insisted on it<\/p>\n<p><span>BECKS AND LEWIS CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Watching the highly entertaining Beckham documentary on Netflix, I was struck by remarkable similarities between old Golden Balls and Lewis Hamilton, beyond their status as British sporting icons.<\/p>\n<p>Both were dedicated young sportsmen dreaming of making it big from small beginnings. Both were blooded young (Beckham at United; Hamilton at McLaren).<\/p>\n<p>Both announced themselves with fanfare (Beckham with a goal from his own half against Wimbledon; Hamilton with an opening season so dazzling you could scarcely believe your eyes).<\/p>\n<p>Both were turned over the tables in the temple (Beckham with his sarong and Mohawk haircut; Hamilton with his bling and even more outlandish clothes. Both living in a celebrity bubble bigger than their sports).<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76774049-0-image-a-28_1697751014155.jpg\" height=\"433\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>There are similarities between David Beckham and Lewis Hamilton\u00a0beyond their status as British sporting icons<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/10\/19\/22\/76774061-0-image-a-29_1697751020459.jpg\" height=\"423\" width=\"634\"><\/p>\n<p>The key difference is that unlike Beckham, Hamilton, for some years, was the best in the world at his sport<\/p>\n<p>Both had run-ins with, and eventual break-ups from, their sporting father figures (Beckham with Sir Alex Ferguson; Hamilton with Ron Dennis). Both were stubborn when crossed or motivated by core beliefs.<\/p>\n<p>Both fight causes beyond the white lines of their sport, challenging the mores of their conservative occupations. Both can be contradictory in this (Beckham in taking Qatari millions despite his liberal views on sexuality; crusader Hamilton in so much as his wages are subsidised by the hard-line Malaysian government\u2019s oil company Petronas in partnership with Mercedes).<\/p>\n<p>Both remained (mostly yet staunchly) dedicated to the professional sport that defined them, even though their own desire and marketability led them to wider cultural terrains.<\/p>\n<p>One difference, perhaps, is that, for all his talent, Beckham was never the best player in the world. Lewis, for some years, was the best driver in the world.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/sport\/formulaone\/article-12651443\/POLE-POSITION-Fernando-Alonso-Red-Bull-Stranger-things-happened-PLUS-global-superstars-David-Beckham-Lewis-Hamilton-cut-cloth.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull? Stranger things have happened! PLUS&#8230; global superstars David Beckham and Lewis Hamilton are <span class=\"more-text\">&hellip;<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":296434,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull? - Sportstons<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/sportstons.com\/racing\/f1\/pole-position-fernando-alonso-to-red-bull\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull? - Sportstons\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"POLE POSITION: Fernando Alonso to Red Bull? 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