Just 72 hours after the end of his debut participation at the Dakar Rally, Fernando Alonso has said goodbye to McLaren. The Spaniard, who raced with the British team during his second Formula 1 stint between 20015 and 2018 before retiring at the Abu Dhabi GP, is also ending his role as an ambassador for the team.
It seems that it was the Spaniard himself who declined the offer to extend his contract with the Britons, which expired at the end of 2019. He thus leaves not only to his role as adviser and ambassador but cuts any ties linking him with the fourth-best team on the grid last season.
Alonso’s refusal of a contract extension is motivated by his desire to have no legal ties to any F1 team. In this way, he would be completely available if an offer should come his way to return to Formula 1 in 2021. It is precisely on that year that the new regulations which are meant to transform the sport are coming into place, something that the Spaniard finds very attractive.
At the same time, 2020 could see some interesting moves in the driver’s market as the contracts of all of the main drivers are set to expire at the end of this season. The recent contract extensions between Charles Leclerc and Ferrari and Max Verstappen and Red Bull have been negotiated with those deadlines in mind.
Those early moves, however, reduce the available seats for next season to a couple of unlikely options. Among them, there is Sebastien Vettel’s place in Maranello if he was to depart the team in 2021. Perhaps a place could also come up in Mercedes. Alonso, in any case, would only accept an offer from a serious project, where he would stand a chance to fight for goals which are up to his level. It will not be easy.
Alonso’s situation in McLaren suddenly got a bit complicated with the signing of Andreas Seidl as new technical director in 2019. On his arrival at the Woking team, the German engineer did not agree with the Spaniard hanging about the garage, even if only occasionally. Moreover, Seidl said only official drivers Carlos Sainz & Lando Norris wound drive McLaren single-seatters.
Alonso, who had agreed with McLaren’s CEO, Zak Brawn, that he would perform some tests on the MCL34 in order to feedback his expert advice and aid in the car’s development, was pushed away from that role. Besides representing McLaren in a small number of occasions, his job at the team became irrelevant.
Despite his 38 years of age, the Spaniard is still excited about returning to F1. He would love to have the opportunity to erase the frustrating four years competing for McLaren (2015-2018) from memory, where the poor performance of the British cars prevented him from shining again on the track.
Farewell to his Indy500 partnership with McLaren
Alonso’s departure from McLaren means he is extremely unlikely to take part in the 500 Miles of Indianapolis onboard one of their cars. Also determinant is the partnership of the British team with SPM Motorsport for the whole IndyCar 2020 season.
The partners don’t seem to be able to provide Alonso with the necessary technical prowess to fight for the win at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, an outcome that would earn him the coveted Triple Crown, an honorary title only conquered by the legendary Graham Hill before.
When Fernando realised his chances to succeed again in Formula 1 had vanished, he found motivation in that new challenge. His goal: To become the most complete racer of all times.
His resounding failure at the 2019 edition of the Indy 500, when the dreadful vehicle he was given didn’t even pass the classifying round, would also have dissuaded him from repeating the experience again with McLaren.
Images: Fernando Alonso Twitter.
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