The Formula 1 community has gone into overdrive following last weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix, with a huge rumour having been teased by members of the paddock.
It’s been suggested that Red Bull driver Sergio Perez and Aston Martin ace Fernando Alonso could swap seats next season, which would see Perez return to the team he left to join the Austrians in the first place.
Perez raced for Aston Martin when they were known as Force India and later Racing Point, with the rebranding into Aston Martin having commenced after the Mexican left.
Checo’s Red Bull future has been a massive talking point despite the fact he has a contract for 2024, which the Milton Keynes-based outfit have stressed they will respect.
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Things have just been going from bad to worse for the 33-year-old, who retired at the end of the opening lap of his home Grand Prix.
Alonso also retired from the race, with Aston Martin’s downward spiral showing no signs of ending.
Some have reported that he’s growing frustrated with how the Silverstone-based side have fallen backwards so dramatically, making many believe that a tweet posted by F1 commentator Albert Fabrega was regarding the Spaniard.
Fabrega revealed that he’d heard a huge rumour he didn’t “want to believe”, sending the F1 community into meltdown.
“I don’t want to believe the rumour that they have told me now in the paddock. No,” Fabrega wrote on Twitter/X.
Twitter/X turned into chaos after the tweet, with many jumping to the conclusion that Alonso and Perez are set to swap seats.
Other reporters have also jumped on the bandwagon, resulting in Fabrega posting another tweet where he stated it was simply a “rumour and not news”.
“I’m just going to say one thing about the rumour that I told you yesterday. From the tone of the text it is understood that I would not like it to happen,” Fabrega added.
“From here, you can speculate as much as you/we want. And I hope it remains a rumour and not news. End of thread.”
Some F1 reporters have since taken to social media to stress that there is no truth in the “irresponsible” tweets.
F1 correspondent Daniel Moxton has stressed that Red Bull are not ditching Checo for Alonso and that the Mexican isn’t retiring either.
Perez and Red Bull are seemingly both aligned in remaining together next season.
“Been a couple of irresponsible tweets that have set off some #F1 rumours today,” Moxton wrote on Twitter/X.
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“To be clear – Sergio Perez is not retiring, nor are Red Bull replacing him with Fernando Alonso.
“My understanding is Perez is not currently planning to retire or leave RB, and that RB don’t plan to bring in Alonso.
“As for where they (rumours) started, it seems many different rumours have gained traction since a certain big ‘paddock secret’ was teased and people just ran with it.”