Fernando Alonso admits that he was approached by Mercedes following Nico Rosberg's shock retirement

While, in the hours that followed Nico Rosberg's shock retirement last December, Toto Wolff and Niki Lauda have admitted that their phones almost glowed red hot, such were the number of enquiries being made by drivers and their managers, neither has spoken much of who they were calling in a bid to replace the German.

Speaking at today's launch of the MCL32, Fernando Alonso admitted that he was contacted by Mercedes, but never seriously considered a move to the German team.

"When Rosberg retired, there were a couple of days when I had some conversations and phone calls," he told reporters, "but there was no point to discuss anything because I was happy at McLaren.

"Let's say Mercedes, after the surprise of Rosberg, had to do a little check of everyone which was understandable," he admitted. "There was nothing really strange or really deep in the conversation or the possibility, it was just a check round which they did with everyone.

"With me, they wanted to hear the situation," he insisted. "My situation was clear: I have this year with McLaren-Honda and I was happy here and there was no point to talk any more about the possibility."

Rosberg has admitted that as a fan he would have loved to see Alonso replace him, but doubted that such a move would have worked, while Toto Wolff has also admitted it would have been a dream scenario but doubts if he could handle the 'excitement'.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by PearBear, 25/02/2017 4:33

"Vettel is also free next year and he's German."

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2. Posted by edllorca, 24/02/2017 16:13

"Unfortunately that seems par for the course. Fernandos luck/choices/timing with teams since his championship has not been the best. This may be the most recent step in that trend unless Mclaren suddenly beats Mercedes."

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3. Posted by ClarkwasGod, 24/02/2017 13:50

"Kudos to Alonso for keeping to his commitments - however.....Bottas is on a 1 year contract, and Alonso is free at the end of this season, so maybe Mercedes will figure in his plans, just not right now."

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Alonso did talk to Mercedes

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