Alonso won’t decide on 2018 until McLaren reveal plans

2018 F1 season

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Fernando Alonso says he has “very good” options for 2018 but wants to be clear about McLaren’s future direction before deciding on his own.

The two-times world champion told media in Singapore “Whatever I do next year is because I want to win. I will not be around in any series to be fighting for top 10 or top 15, nothing like that.””

“There are many options out there that I am studying and looking at. Formula One is my first and only priority so I will wait to make a decision on that before making decisions on other series.”

“And at the same time I want to give time to my team. After the last three years with some struggles we went through together I want to have time together to make decisions, to see the future, next year’s car and after they take decisions I will take mine.

“I want to stay loyal at least to that and not make any decisions without them making first their decisions.”

Alonso added he is unlikely to return to the Indianapolis 500 next year if he does stay in F1.

“The triple crown is a clear target for me in the future,” he said. “And there are three races there, if one of those the Indy 500 is together with Monaco, there is another one still to compete. The triple crown is still ongoing.”

“But I agreed the same thing as Zak [Brown, McLaren CEO] said. If I remain in Formula One it is because I believe I can win next year. So that will ease the decision a lot because I will be in Monaco because I don’t want to lose points there.”

“The priority is Formula One and winning here. The triple crown is in the background and as I said there are three races, not only Indy, so there are many possibilities to do a fantastic 2018.”

“There are options everywhere,” Alonso added. “And they are all very good. You just need to be patient and wait a couple of weeks.”

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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13 comments on “Alonso won’t decide on 2018 until McLaren reveal plans”

  1. I reckon he’ll stay now they won’t have Honda engines.

    1. And next year he will cry a lot about Renault.

    2. I just don’t see Alonso being happy at McLaren even with the Renault engine.
      The top 4 seats for next year have gone, the seats at Red Bull are locked up, but there is still a seat at Force India. They use the proven Mercedes engine, why not go for a seat there? They probably won’t pay as much as McLaren would, but if you want glory more than pay wouldn’t a car that could, in the right hands, be nibbling at the podium places be worth the pay cut? After all, there are only three seasons left with the V6 hybrid power unit, so you want to be using the best unit around while it is still around.

  2. Chaos is a ladder – Alonso

  3. Frankly, if I were in charge of McLaren, I’d have dumped this disruptive and poor team player before I’d have dumped Honda.

    1. Luckily, you are not. Here is a list of F1 World Champions that were good team players:

      Jenson Button.

      End of the list.

      1. Pretty sure (at the very least) Jackie Stewart, Jim Clark and Graham Hill should be on your list.

        1. His point is one of the requirements of being a champion isn’t to be politically correct.
          Evidently his so called abrasive demeanor wasn’t enough to keep him from going back to the team he supposedly blackmailed.

    2. @joshgeake

      And you’d be in charge of a McLaren in last place rather than 9th. Alonso has managed 10 points in a car that deserves none and would have a lot more if the car could only have completed more races.

      He sits in 15th place, ahead of a Renault, a Torro Rosso, and both Saubers. That’s not down to the car, that’s what you get from a driver like Alonso. He’s highly strung, at times unprofessional, but put him behind the wheel of any car and it’s debatable which other drivers could outscore him.

      1. +1 Philip. Absolutely.

      2. Every top driver could do what Alonso does. I would not be too proud of sitting in front of Palmer, Kvyat and a Sauber that is sometimes even worse than McLaren :) Alonso is EXPECTED to sit where he does given his qualities and he absolutely deserve a car like McLaren-Honda for burning all bridges behind him in the past. He is indeed disruptive and it is totally understandable why most top teams does not want his services :)

        1. I like how this perception that Alonso burned his bridges is still prevalent.

          Theoretically, the bridge that was so called burned at Mclaren, has been rebuilt, as he is currently sat in a Mclaren.

          At Ferrari, he was effectively forced out. If you remember, and of course, memory is selective for most people, Alonso was very supportive of Ferrari and was 100% behind them regardless of outcome when LdM and Domenicialli were in charge. Once Marchionne took over, the writing was on the wall. Mattiaci was effective installed by Marchionne as a hitman.

          Alonso’s entire reputation so how whittles down to 2007. Sure, no denying that Alonso had his share of the blame, he was very petulant, but Ron Dennis is equally culpable, and Lewis also played his part.

      3. You are 100% correct – only Alonso bashers won’t admit it even though they know it to be true.
        It must eat them alive to hear past and present drivers claim he the best on the grid.

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