Fernando Alonso believes there is "zero chance" of Max Verstappen leaving Red Bull as a result of the ongoing Horner saga.
One of the strangest twists in the sorry tale saw reports of numerous people leaving the Austrian team, including Helmut Marko, Adrian Newey and three-time world champion, Max Verstappen.
With attention already focussed on who might replace Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes next season, the thought of Verstappen heading to Brackley immediately focussed attention on what has to (currently) be the best seat on the grid.
Having previously said that he could race into his fifties, Alonso then rowed back and cast doubt on whether he will even remain in the sport beyond his current contract with Aston Martin, which is in its final year.
However, as he is still clearly enjoying racing, and remains one of the most competitive drivers out there - just ask George Russell - the two-time world champion is one of several names linked with the Mercedes seat.
When asked if Verstappen becoming available would upset his own chances on the driver market, Alonso replied: "If Max leaves Red Bull maybe that has an impact, but I think there's zero chance of that happening.
"What I want to do is just concentrate on my stuff," he added, "and before summer try to make a decision if I keep racing or not. And if I keep racing, where would be the best possibility."
While Toto Wolff has said that Verstappen would be top of his wish list were he to become available, he also admitted that Alonso and Carlos Sainz are being considered.
Meanwhile, at a time George Russell has claimed that not penalising Alonso for his "potentially dangerous" driving in Australia would have "opened a can of worms" that would have filtered down from F1 throughout motorsport, the Spaniard still feels the Melbourne stewards reaction was surprising.
"We have to accept it and concentrate on Japan," he said. "I think it will not change much how we drive, how we approach racing," he added.
"There is no obligation to drive 57 laps in the same way. Sometimes we get slower pace to save fuel, to save tyres, to save battery. Sometimes we get slow into corners or into some sectors of the track to give the DRS to the car behind because that will be a useful tool if the second car behind is at a faster pace.
"All those things are completely normal. It was, it is and it will be forever in motorsport," he insisted. "We had one penalty, probably one-off, that we will never apply ever again."
Like a number of other drivers, the Spaniard is critical of the corner (Turn 6) where the incident occurred.
"I think the big thing is Turn 6 in Australia," he said. "It's not the safest corner at the moment on that track. We saw an accident last year with Alex in the race and this year in free practice where he damaged the chassis. Also in F2, I think Dennis Hauger crashed there as well. And George, obviously in the race.
"That's probably for me a more important point to change for next year rather than what the driver in front of me will be able to do or not do.
"If he was in Abu Dhabi with a run-off area in asphalt or whatever, I think George will rejoin the track a few metres after that and will try to have a go on me in the following lap or the following straight," added the Spaniard. "It will not be any problem."
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