Flavio Briatore has revealed that Williams approached to sign Fernando Alonso prior to the Spaniard’s move to the Aston Martin Formula 1 team.
Briatore serves as Alonso’s manager and has helped handle the Spaniard’s affairs throughout his F1 career.
That involved bringing Alonso back to F1 in 2021 with Alpine before negotiating a switch to Aston Martin in 2023.
In an interview with Auto Motor und Sport, Briatore revealed that as the Alpine/Alonso relationship started to unravel, Williams tried to lure the Spaniard to Grove.
“Losing two drivers like Fernando Alonso and Oscar Piastri in one summer was a bit of an inability,” said Briatore, who is now an Executive Advisor to Alpine.
“Fernando wanted to stay because the season before wasn’t that bad. We wanted to sign the contract in Canada.
“Then [former CEO] Laurent Rossi suddenly disappeared. We could no longer contact him. That was the moment when I started talking to Lawrence Stroll from Aston Martin.
“We even had an offer from Williams. I said to them: get your shop in order first.
“In the end, we signed with Aston Martin because we couldn’t get on with Alpine’s management.”
Alonso’s contract saga played out in the summer of 2022, half a season before James Vowles joined Williams as Team Principal to set it on a path to F1 redemption.
Vowles has since set about building Williams’ workforce, improving the team’s infrastructure and focusing development on the new rules cycle in 2026.
These were all factors likely missing at Williams when they tried to poach Alonso, factors that weren’t an issue at Aston Martin.
Alonso ‘still hungry’ for F1 titles, says Briatore
Alonso has signed a contract extension with Aston Martin that will keep him at the Silverstone-based squad through the 2026 season.
This will give him the chance to work under Adrian Newey, who will join Aston Martin in 2025 as its Managing Technical Partner.
Moreover, Aston Martin will have the added benefit of being the Honda works team in 2026 thanks to an exclusive engine deal with the Japanese marque.
Alonso’s renewal will keep him racing in F1 at the age of 45 and Briatore backs him to continue defying expectations in an environment dominated by young drivers.
“Fernando is the exception,” said Briatore.
“I’ve been his manager for 22 years. He has money, but no children. And he is still hungry.
“If he finishes 14th, he wants to be 13th. Someone else his age would do his job by the book if it’s only about 14th place.
“There are now two feelings in my chest. On the one hand, I hope that Fernando can get off to another flying start with Adrian Newey at Aston Martin in 2026, but on the other hand, he’s racing against Alpine.
“But still, wouldn’t a World Championship title as a farewell be a brilliant story?”
READ MORE – Fernando Alonso: McLaren F1 turnaround an ‘example’ for Aston Martin to pursue
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