BREAKING: Alonso Not Racing in F1 in 2019

[Rodent]

Great, looking forward to seeing him chase the milk at Indy!

 

[Tbear]

Great, looking forward to seeing him chase the milk at Indy!

No doubt. I think this is about the "Triple Crown (F1 Champ + 24 Hours of Le Mans + Indy 500)" and a move into an Indy car and possible WEC ride.

An article from Motorsport.com (HERE) said Quote:
McLaren said he was not allowed to repeat his Indy bid this season, but did give Alonso permission to combine his F1 efforts with a full FIA World Endurance Championship superseason campaign.

Alonso went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt with Toyota.

With two Monaco GP wins under his belt, Alonso's Le Mans victory leaves just Indy unconquered in his bid for motorsport's unofficial 'triple crown'.

Alonso is extremely unlikely to add to his tally of 32 grand prix victories before he leaves F1 at the end of the year, and is just three shy of hitting 100 podiums. End Quote.

 

[Kjell81d]

I hope he does endurance racing full time and not pull a Massa. If he goes to Indy I may pay attention to it for once.

 

[Tero Dahlberg]

I called it in our team chat about 6 weeks ago!

Wasn't a huge fan when he was doing well, but ever since he's been "stuck" with badly performing cars I've started to feel bad for him. Surprised he's been hanging on for this long. Definitely one of the very best F1 drivers on the grid currently. Just awful luck with team changes for so many years in a row.

I feel that his Indy 500 experience and obviously Le Mans win has shown him that he can have fun racing elsewhere

 

[François Strat]

He only needs to win at indianapolis to get the big triple... it was sure that he would leave F1 after winning LeMans !!!
Whatever, I would have done the same thing if I were him ^_^

 

[IMrIMike]

Knowing his luck McLaren will have a Championship winning car next year. Great driver, he will be missed.

"luck".

 

[Tbear]

I'm glad he had enough sense to retire. Let's put that energy to use in WEC.

I think we'll see a number of big names moving to the WEC, especially with plans for a new 'hypercar" coming in 2020(HERE).

 

[Isaac Chavira]

Maybe WEC? He did race a TS050 afterall, and WON mind you. Or maybe IMSA P2?

 

[Patrick van der Meulen]

Sensible decision. He can shine for quite some years at IRL. And with F1 his options are very limited. And McLaren does have a long road ahead to get back at the top.

Will miss his brilliant board radios after this season.

 

[Bert Austen]

Good News that Alonso leaves the boring Formule 1. The Wec series and Blanqpain GT3 series are becoming increasingly popular and more and more young talents going there. Formule 1 is only about money , and allows the rules to be dictated by Ferrari and Mercedes. Spectators pay a lot of entrance fees and get boring motorsport. Good luck Fernando...see you next year again in the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and hope in the future the 24 Hours of Spa.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

Literally nobody saw this coming.

Even Alonso himself mentioned he took this decision months ago. So basically he lied in the interviews about the future.

I have respect for the driver, but the person...well just shows what's wrong with F1 and motorsport in general. What good are interviews if it is just to hear lies or stuff that ain't important?

 

[Jack Straw]

I've been enjoying the Indycar as much as F1 for a couple of years now. If Alonso comes over it will add another great dimension to the series. Imagine Fernando mixing it up with Scott Dixon, Josef Newgarden, Will Power, Simon Pagenaud and the rest. Yikes.

 

[NtsParadize]

At least he won't have to deal with the halo anymore

 

[snyperal]

Where is the sad vote on the forum , because this needs one

 

[michelforest]

Knowing his luck McLaren will have a Championship winning car next year. Great driver, he will be missed.

I wish McLaren would come back strong in 2019 (we need more top teams) but they way it looks now, it will take them 2-3 years at least to come back, and that depends a lot on the Renault engine improving.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

Wow. F1's lost a good one. It's a funny thing about my feelings for Fernando. I loved his talent and the way he battled my favorite driver, Schumacher.......no not Ralf, during those championship years. Then when he went to Mclaren, I was excited for him until.......that purposeful hold up of Lewis in the Pits. Lost a lot of respect for him that day, but then when he and Jensen were at Mclaren, he earned all of my respect back. The way he has handled this entire Mclaren melt down is beyond me. We've had to painfully watch a talent go to waste on a team that has lost it's rudder at sea. Just totally adrift. Sure he's had some stinging words for the team and it's vendors like Honda, but sometimes a little truth is a good thing.

Anyway, here's to tipping a glass to one of the all time greats of F1. May he find success, happiness and many more safe years competing in whatever series the man wants too. He deserves it and may God Bless him.

 

[Jack Straw]

Where is the sad vote on the forum , because this needs one

I don't see this as sad at all. Alonso is a hard core racer and because of that he needs to be competitive. He needs a new challenge. He has run out of opportunities in F1. I think Indycar is a logical move and a venue that is simply more exciting than F1 or WEC at present.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

Even Alonso himself mentioned he took this decision months ago. So basically he lied in the interviews about the future.

While I would agree with you totally all of the time, maybe he did it as to not disrupt any ongoing negotiations that Mclaren had with it's outside vendors etc. I'm sure he has a lot of very close friends and people he cares about that he'll be leaving behind and I'm sure he would like to see them succeed in the near future.

 

[Knoxstar]

Maybe WEC? He did race a TS050 afterall, and WON mind you. Or maybe IMSA P2?

I think Indycar for Fernando, while also doing some WEC and IMSA as a 3rd driver.
IMSA, btw in their "State of the Union" press conference last week said the P2 class will be separate from the manufacturer backed DPi with BOP being lifted on the DPi and effectively becoming the P1 class (although different from WEC P1).

With manufacturers like Nissan, Acura, Cadillac and Mazda, I think Alonzo might be tempted into a DPi seat to take on Daytona 24 hours and Sebring along with an Indycar season.

 

[Koen Verlinde]

While I would agree with you totally all of the time, maybe he did it as to not disrupt any ongoing negotiations that Mclaren had with it's outside vendors etc. I'm sure he has a lot of very close friends and people he cares about that he'll be leaving behind and I'm sure he would like to see them succeed in the near future.

That is indeed a very sound argument. I'll let my comment stand cause I don't like editing stuff but your comment made me think it might actually be excusable.