Source: Mercedes F1 Twitter
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff reveals the team “considered Fernando’s option, but at that time, Fernando was not interested in driving for Mercedes”.
After it was announced that Lewis Hamilton would be leaving Mercedes at the end of 2024, the F1 world got very interested in finding out who will replace the Briton next year.
Asked whether the team considered Fernando Alonso as a possible replacement, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff revealed they did.
“Of course we considered Fernando’s option, but at that time, Fernando was not interested in driving for Mercedes,” the Austrian said.
“Additionally, he was offered a long-term contract at Aston Martin. That’s how we perceived it at that moment.”
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Asked whether he agrees with Max Verstappen’s Top 5 best drivers in F1 history picks (Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton and Juan Manuel Fangio), even though Alonso is only a two-time champion, Toto said:
“Yes, but Fernando would have had many more titles if he had managed his career differently.
“Coming to Mercedes in the past? I don’t think I could have signed for Mercedes after the McLaren episodes.
“Dieter Zetsche [chairman of Mercedes at the time] was at McLaren and later at Mercedes, so that door was practically closed,” Wolff concluded.
