Alonso to Stay at McLaren in New 'Multi-Year' Contract

Knoxstar · Oct 21, 2017

I'm seeing things differently than some of you it would appear. I don't think money is the main issue and as Paul Di Resta said in FP2, contracts are broken all the time. What if Kimi retires after next year and Ricciardo goes to Ferrari or Renault improves? He's there next year. That's all we can say for sure.
What is known apparently or being tipped is a 24 hour of Daytona ride next year and I think THAT is the sort of thing McLaren can and will offer for Alonzo who says he wants to be the best and most complete driver. I honestly believe that limited freedom will keep him happy as he tries to fulfill those goals.

paracletus · Oct 21, 2017

One may speculate that this contract would not have been signed if there were a honda engine in the mclaren next year.
That is all.

Rob · Oct 22, 2017

Andrew Harper said:
When he did the Indy 500 he looked like a changed person, he genuinely looked like he was enjoying his racing again and that was really nice to see.

I can't say it any better. That's why I was convinced he was going. What surprised me even more was that he said "no" to Indy next year. Bizarre. He's with McLaren. They can build him a car. Ahhhhhh. Yes. Now I get it. Honda was the connection. In that case, welcome to hell Nando. Enjoy those halos and handful (of points).

Turk · Oct 23, 2017

Andrew Harper said:
I suppose his hope is that McLaren (like Red Bull) create a great chassis that will flatter the Renault engine and that will get him the results again, but Red Bull have a great design team and I'm not sure McLaren do. Maybe he knows things that we don't about the future of the team.

McLaren have the potential to be at least as fast as Red bull. I know red bull have the reputation as chassis and aero masters but we don't really have any way to judge the McLaren chassis because no one else is using that engine, for all we know the McLaren has the best chassis it's just we can't see it because the engines so bad. We won't really know until they get that Renault engine in the car.

I don't really see a whole lot of options for Fernando at the moment, I don't think he'd fit into Mercedes or Ferrari, I think Hamilton can win the manufacturers championship with just a little help from Bottas and Alonso would be more of a hindrance than a help if he starts upsetting Hamilton. Same goes for Ferrari, Vettel's a sure thing with some backup from Kimi. Red Bull won't hire a driver as old as Alonso and those are pretty much the only 3 teams that are worth moving for.

McLaren are the kind of team that once they get past the engine being weak they will be extremely competitive, they have the money and resources to take on the top 3 teams and win. It's a matter of when, not if.. Hopefully they can pull themselves together in time to give Alonso another shot at glory.

Andrew Harper · Oct 23, 2017

Rob said:
I can't say it any better. That's why I was convinced he was going. What surprised me even more was that he said "no" to Indy next year. Bizarre. He's with McLaren. They can build him a car. Ahhhhhh. Yes. Now I get it. Honda was the connection. In that case, welcome to hell Nando. Enjoy those halos and handful (of points).

Well in a way I hope we are both wrong my friend. As with Williams it would be great to see McLaren back at the front again.

I think it just surprised me as I thought at this stage of his career he would've picked racing enjoyment over a large pay check (he has nothing else left to prove) but we'll see how next year goes.

I was wrong with Lewis and Mercedes as I thought he'd made a mistake by moving when he did. It was a fairly difficult period to start with but then the hybrid era kicked in and the rest is history. So whatever he read in his horoscope in 2012 must of been good!

So sometimes you can never tell.

It will be interesting to see how the Honda program now develops without the pressure of the McLaren relationship.

However the gap between the top three teams and the rest is still huge and it will take a major step by any team to compete with them in 2018.

Rob · Oct 23, 2017

Andrew Harper said:
I was wrong with Lewis and Mercedes as I thought he'd made a mistake by moving when he did. It was a fairly difficult period to start with but then the hybrid era kicked in and the rest is history. So whatever he read in his horoscope in 2012 must of been good!

I must be the only one who looks at ths move as bad. For instance, as much as I can't stand Mad Max, there is no denying that him being in a Red Bull brings more "cache" to a win or strong showing than a similar win would in a Merc. Would I want everyone thinking "I wonder how good he would have been if he had not had a .400 advantage every race." Because clearly Bottas is not as bad as last year or as good as this. And when your career is being judged on how well you do against Valteri Bottas and Nico Rosberg, you are in big trouble historically. That's the same counter-argument they throw at Mansell and Senna fans. But with Mansell (my favorite driver), I can always say "give me another driver who has won back to back F1 and IndyCar Championships in the modern era" and I'll concede. Nobody has been able to do it so far.

In a very very cruel (to Lewis) twist, I think history will look back much more favorably on Alonso than Hamilton. World racing history, not inside baseball from F1 world.