Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has revealed Fernando Alonso turned down interest from Mercedes over a switch prior to signing a new Formula 1 deal with Aston Martin.
Lewis Hamilton’s bombshell choice to activate an exit clause in his Mercedes contract to pursue a move to Ferrari from 2025 has created a vacant drive at Mercedes.
Wolff mentioned at the time that Mercedes was open to all options from protege Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz to seasoned champions like Alonso.
But Alonso removed his name from the conversation when it was announced in April that he had penned a multi-term contract extension to remain with Aston Martin.
Alonso divulged that conversations had taken place with rival teams, and Wolff has told Mundo Deportivo that the Spaniard was among the options being considered.
“Of course, at the beginning of the year we considered the option of Fernando Alonso, but at that time Fernando was not interested in driving for Mercedes,” he said.
“Also, he was offered a long-term contract at Aston Martin. That’s how we perceived it at the time.”
Alonso’s decision to disregard a potential Mercedes move materialised when the team was still struggling under the current regulations with an inconsistent W15 car.
However, the German marque has since made sizeable progress to attain consecutive race victories, while Aston Martin has continued to regress into a midfield side.
Wolff has claimed that Alonso has warranted more than the two F1 titles he has to his name, but his career choices have thwarted him from achieving more success.
“I agree with that list,” Wolff said regarding Max Verstappen naming Michael Schumacher, Alonso, Hamilton, Ayrton Senna and Juan Manuel Fangio as the best in F1.
“Even if there are drivers in history who have more titles than Fernando. Fernando would have had many more titles if he had managed his career differently.
Alonso was known to be courting a Mercedes drive across the squad’s dominant period between 2014 and 2020, but the manufacturer never entertained his services.
Wolff has established that Alonso’s tumultuous season alongside Hamilton at McLaren in 2007 and the Spygate scandal contributed to that opening not materialising.
“I don’t think he could have signed for Mercedes after the McLaren episodes,” Wolff explained.
“Dieter Zetsche [Head of Mercedes-Benz until 2019] was at McLaren and at Mercedes afterwards. So that door was pretty much closed.”
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