Fernando Alonso explains why he turned down the chance to race for Red Bull during his F1 career

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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso is about to achieve a milestone that no one would have ever thought was possible in Formula 1.

If and when Fernando Alonso lines up on the grid at the Mexico City Grand Prix, he will enter the 400th Grand Prix of his F1 career.

The driver with the next most races is Kimi Raikkonen with 353, although Mercedes star Lewis Hamilton will overtake the legendary before the end of the season.

Sergio Perez’s future is currently being questioned, but one more season on the grid will see him reach the 300-race mark.

Alonso has had an incredible career, winning the world championship with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and achieving 32 victories and more than 100 podiums in his career.

However, Alonso has gained a reputation for making the right moves in the paddock at the wrong time.

His two spells at McLaren didn’t go to plan, with Alonso and Hamilton clashing in 2007.

The Spaniard’s time at Ferrari was also very frustrating although Rob Smedley described Alonso’s Ferrari stint as a miracle such was the performance he extracted from the car.

READ MORE: Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso’s life outside F1 from net worth to Cars 2

Alonso was speaking on the Beyond The Grid Podcast about a move that never happened but would have dramatically changed his career.

Red Bull were very keen on Alonso earlier in his career, and the 43-year-old admitted to holding secret talks with the team’s chiefs in Spa back in the late 2000s.

Alonso has now shared why he turned down the chance to race for Red Bull ahead of the first dominant period in their F1 history.

Why Fernando Alonso turned down the chance to race for Red Bull

Alonso was asked why a move to Red Bull never happened and said: “Again, it’s easy to say now.

“Back in 2008, Red Bull had, I think, one podium of David [Coulthard] in Monaco.

“Red Bull was an energy drinks company. Great team, great members in the team. But I think to predict that they will win seven or eight championships in the next decade, it was not totally guaranteed.

“And it’s when Lewis changed from McLaren to Mercedes, that first year in 2013 was a lot of critics.

“Because why [would] you change McLaren for a Mercedes that was only achieving one or two podiums until then?

READ MORE: Everything you need to know about Red Bull Racing from engine to Ford links

“And he’s a seven-time world champion, and now the same with Ferrari.

“You don’t know what Lewis will achieve next year. If Ferrari does well and win a championship, it’s a great move.

“If Mercedes does well and they win a championship, it’s a bad move. How can you predict that?”

In the end, Red Bull ended up signing Sebastian Vettel instead, and unless Adrian Newey can work miracles when he joins Aston Martin next year, the German will finish with more world championship victories than Alonso during his F1 career.

Helmut Marko shares his story on trying to sign Fernando Alonso for Red Bull

During the 2007 season when Alonso was clearly unhappy at McLaren, Red Bull thought they had a real opportunity to sign the Spaniard.

Even during his first year back at Renault in 2008, the team were no longer at the same level as when he had won his two championships with the French outfit.

Helmut Marko recently shared that he doesn’t think Alonso took Red Bull seriously during contract negotiations, which tallies with his comments on the team.

Describing them as just an energy drinks company may have made sense at the time, but Red Bull had taken steady steps forward since their debut on the grid in 2005.

Alonso’s now got to rely on his final gamble at Aston Martin to help him achieve at least one more race victory, if not something more when the new regulations are introduced in 2026.