Alonso to decide future after Honda talks

Spa Francorchamps, Belgium. Sunday 27 August 2017. Eric Boullier, Racing Director, McLaren, Fernando Alonso, McLaren, Stoffel Vandoorne, McLaren, and Zak Brown, Executive Director, McLaren Technology Group, wear celebratory orange T-shirts.
1 September 2017 by    2 min read
 2

Sep.1 - Fernando Alonso says he may travel to Japan to meet with Honda chiefs before deciding his next move.

Prior to Monza, it was reported the fiery Spaniard had issued an ultimatum to McLaren -- either dump its works Japanese engine supplier or lose him.

"That is completely wrong -- it's a lie," Alonso insisted at Monza.

"McLaren is a team with 1000 employees and I am just one -- and all of us want to change the situation."

Indeed, it appears that Alonso is in fact almost completely out of options, as Williams denied holding talks with the 35-year-old and Renault said it is not ready to give him a title-winning car.

Asked about Renault, the two-time world champion said: "Renault will always be in my heart.

"At my kart circuit in Spain I even have an arrangement with them. But talking about racing, I'm very pleased with McLaren. We have everything we need to win the title.

"And Renault has said repeatedly and very honestly that they doubt their readiness to fight for the title next year," Alonso added.

Honda has struggled since 2015, but on the track the Japanese manufacturer is now bringing steady improvements.

When asked about his deliberations about 2018, Alonso said: "I have to sit with McLaren and with Honda to see what their expectations are in detail.

"Maybe I will have to fly to Japan and see firsthand before I make a decision," he is quoted by the Spanish media.

"Ferrari managed to make its engine competitive in one winter, and Honda can too," Alonso continued.

"They now have three years of experience and are helped from the outside in the right direction."

And so Alonso denied that his relationship with Honda is now completely broken, and said claims he faked an engine failure at Spa a week ago are wrong.

"Have you forgotten that I have been in this situation for three years?" he asked. "In Bahrain last year I even wanted to race with a broken rib.

"I never give up."

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2 F1 Fan comments on “Alonso to decide future after Honda talks”

  1. Floyd Smith

    Fernando has every right to be frustrated and to doubt his will to win is ludicrous. He is a good two time World Driving Champion and that is an accomplishment that quitters cannot achieve. I would love to see McLaren improve and to be competitive but the Honda engines have problems that need to be addressed.
    If Fernando has a problem in the world of Formula1 we here in American would love to have him here Racing Indy Cars for Andretti Racing.
    He has a lot of driving left in him and he deserves a chance to win. He did exceptionally well at Indy this year and we would love to see him back on a permanent basis.

    • Leopold Post author

      I agree, hopefully he will be back in a winning car soon. It's a waste of money and talent. I personally don't understand that McLaren took such a big risk with the Honda power unit. I cannot understand that they didn't put the Honda power units in a B-team first to develop them and kept the Mercedes power until the Honda one was powerful enough to beat the Mercedes.


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