Alonso tease sparks Verstappen GT3 speculation

Fernando Alonso has hinted at more racing outside Formula 1, but Max Verstappen has ruled out one obvious theory - that the pair are about to team up in GT3.

With his new Aston Martin deal for 2027 now in place, Alonso said at Sepang that he still wants to explore forms of racing most current F1 drivers would not attempt.

"Max is the only one trying to do some GT racing," said the Spaniard.

"I’ve tried it in the past and I will keep trying."

He then teased: "Maybe you have more surprises in the next few weeks."

"There are things that people probably think are impossible, but I want to find the limits of what is possible."

That immediately fuelled speculation because Alonso has already spoken about potentially sharing an endurance program with Verstappen in future.

But with Verstappen now confirmed for a GT World Challenge Europe race at Portimao later this month, he killed off the idea that Alonso would be part of that program.

"No. No, he’s not driving with me," said the Red Bull driver.

"So, I don’t know what he means with that, but no."

"From my side, it’s all clear. We know what we want to do."

That still leaves Alonso’s "surprises" unexplained, but his comments make clear that more non-F1 racing is very much on his radar.

"I love challenges," said the 45-year-old. "My life revolves around racing cars."

"My strength has always been adapting to different cars and different rules - the V10, the V8, the V6, Bridgestone, Michelin, Pirelli, KERS, hybrid systems, ground-effect cars, all those things. Plus different racing series: prototypes, Indy, Dakar."

"And I try to use that strength and maybe implement things from the past that were possible in the 80s, 60s, or 90s."