With Daniel Ricciardo on his way to Renault next season, Red Bull Racing will need to find somebody to place alongside Max Verstappen moving forward. Wouldn’t Fernando Alonso be an excellent choice then?

Apparently, no, reports Autosport. Or at least, that’s what Red Bull team boss Christian Horner thinks, who during F1’s official podcast Beyond the Grid spoke about how he isn’t a fan of Alonso’s reputation for causing chaos within every team he’s been a part of.

“I’ve got huge respect for Fernando, he’s a great, fantastic driver, but it would be very difficult to see,” stated Horner. “He’s tended to cause a bit of chaos wherever he’s gone. I’m not sure it would be the healthiest thing for the team for Fernando to join.”

“Our preference would be to continue to invest in youth [rather] than take a driver who is obviously close to the end of his career.”

To put things into perspective, Alonso is 37-years old, whereas Red Bull-contracted drivers such as Pierre Gasly and Carlos Sainz are 22 and 23 respectively.

Horner went on to add that his team has an “incredibly attractive car” and that he doesn’t think they’ll be short on requests and offers for next season, despite switching from Renault to Honda power.

“I think we’ll look at everything. The preferred route will be to invest, as it has been so successful, in home talent. Vettel, Verstappen, Ricciardo, Sainz, Gasly – they are all products of the junior programme that have delivered for us.”

While it looks like either Sainz or Gasly are in the drivers seat, so to speak, for a seat at Red Bull next year, it’s worth noting that Haas’ Romain Grosjean has yet to re-sign with his team for 2019. He would certainly be somebody worth considering, seen as how he’s got the talent and the experience.