Helmut Marko has shared back-stories of Red Bull’s🔴 failure to sign Fernando Alonso and Lando Norris.

He insists that tal♚ks were at a seriꦦous stage with both drivers several years ago, but the moves fell apart for differing reasons.

Red Bull’s interest in Alonso came shortly after he had won back-to-back F1 championships w🤪ith Renault.

“Before we starteꦆd winning, in 2008 or so, we were talking to Alonso,” Marko told the♉ Inside Line F1 podcast.

“He didn’t take us seri💮ousl🔥y, I guess. So it didn’t happen.”

Alons🌳o was in the process of finding a new home after exiting McLaren, and eventually plumped for a re♛turn to Renault in 2008.

Re🌠d Bull, in that year, had David Coulthard൩ and Mark Webber as their drivers.

Contract clause ended Norris chase

Their pursuit of Norris, Marko claims, came 𝐆slightly closer t🤪o a resolution.

Marko didn’t specify a year but Norris debuted in F1 in 2019 - when Red Bull had Max Verstappen and Pierre Gasly, and Toro Rosso had Alex Al💎bon and D⛎aniil Kvyat.

Mꩵarko said about Norris: “We had serious discus෴sions, and we had a contract ready, for Lando Norris.

“For AlphaTauri, or Toro Rosso at the time.

“Unfortunately [McLaren] found out. They had two contracts, a🗹nd then one was a cl𓃲ause which stopped this cooperation with Lando Norris.”

Norris, of ♛course, h𓆉as steadily improved to the stage where he is now seriously threatening Verstappen’s drivers’ championship.

The two close frౠiends are battling for this year’s title and Verstappen’s once-i🌳ron grip has been loosened to just 62 points.

Norris is also aiding McLaren’s charge to the constructors’ champi💜onship - they are eight points adrift of Red Bull.

But how the F1 grid might have looked different if Red Bull landed the☂se big-name targets.