Alonso gives McLaren an ultimatum

Alonso wants out. Badly. I said he would not finish this season with Mac.

F1 News - Spanish GP: Alonso will to ?talk to anyone? for competitive F1 2018 deal

Alonso will to ‘talk to anyone’ for competitive F1 2018 deal 11 May 2017
Fernando Alonso will make himself available to other more competitive teams if McLaren-Honda cannot prove it can turn around its fortunes.

McLaren-Honda has until the summer to prove it can turn-around its fortunes and give Fernando Alonso a competitive F1 package after the Spaniard revealed he will 'talk to anyone' to ensure his desires of a title challenging car are met for 2018.

The Spaniard has been vocal in his criticism of the McLaren MCL32, particularly the under powered and unreliable Honda engine, raising speculation he will quit the end at the end of the season when his multi-million pound three-year contract comes to an end.

Though Alonso says his focus remains on his upcoming Indy 500 appearance, he has laid down the gauntlet to McLaren by declaring he will make himself available to those that can give him a title-challenging machine.

“My intention and my first priority is to race here, not only to race, I want to win. So now that I have not any more obligations with McLaren, I am happy with the team but we're not winning.

 

Fair enough, but unfortunately for him there is no where to go ...

Pete

 

Hamilton will quit. Watch. The silly season is just starting. With Alonso out there looking don't think some teams aren't looking to get rid of dead weight. Alonso will be cheap. He just wants to win now. He could be like Kimi at Lotus -- run for free just to do it if there is a chance to win races.

What's interesting here is that Alonso is so public about it. Why? Because he's already planning an exit and is setting up the groundwork.

"I told you so!"

 

About time, he deserves to be at the front challenging for wins, not playing roulette with his engine wondering if he will even get to start the race. If toto Wolff had a brain he would be thinking elton £50mill, Alonso free....... hello fernando, elton, don't let the door hit you on the ass on the way out chump

 

I'd put Alonso right up there with Vet, Max and Ham as a top tier driver. But opening are limited... he may have to go to Williams.

 

I think he should move to sauber...he already knows the engine

 

He really should just get a 1 way ticket to Indy ,with an extended visa ...and call it a day and let Jenson take the pain for the rest of the year.

He says he will be in F1 next year.Only problem is to actually secure a seat in a decent car. He might have to suck it up and continue with the big $$$ at McHonda.

The best car he has a chance to drive in 2018 is probably Williams ,if they can afford/want him.Massa is doing a decent job so far and Stroll is paying.

 

Strolls dad would likely love it if the youngster had the opportunity to learn at the knee of Alonso. Maybe he will pay his wages too

 

He went there for the $$$. If he is still cashing the checks he should shut up and drive. Alternatively, he can start his own team, since he knows how to do everyone else's job.

 

LOL

 

Leaving Ferrari wasn't such a good idea then ...

 

This must be a first...park the McHonda on the out lap of FP1 then head off for a game of tennis before FP2!

He really should just sod off straightaway,even McHonda must be wondering why they are paying this guy +/-$40 mio pa to kick sand in their faces.

 

But, is it not strange that most of the reliability problems affect mostly Alonso's car, and less Vandoorne?

 

Alonso is just stating the obvious.

I think he has a real chance of landing a decent seat for next year: Raikkonen and Bottas have only one year contracts, there are rumours about Vettel going to Mercedes and Hamilton is unpredictable. Moving chairs game.

 

I don't see Hamilton quitting. If the revised Mercedes is as strong as it appears to be, he will be WDC again this year.

 

Don't think he'll appreciate seeing his son 2 seconds down a lap. Every single time.

 

Depends on Bottas. If Bottas can beat him often in the following races Elton will quit.

 

His only chance would be if Bottas sucked..still i don't think Merc wants a guy that costed them 100 mil and basicly made them look like cheaters.....They already stated so.
His real chance is to land at renault who could build a half decent car...but he won't be winning any races with them...not next year.

 

There's certain expectations, such as after 3 years, a car than can get further than 3 corners is a reasonable expectation.

Or if Bottas is so good that Elton will leave in frustration having ''fallen out of love with F1''.

He didn't cost Mercedes 100 mill, that was Mclaren (actually was more than that I think, 100 mill was the fine and excluded from championship, so that's another 150 million or so in prize money). And fair's fair, he didn't obtain and use the data, Mike Coughlan did.

Even so, he's back at Mclaren now . I'm utterly convinced if Hamilton's spot at Mercedes is open, Alonso is on it.

 

The reason's Lewis might leave Merc :

Ferrari wins WDC and WCC (Seb would not then leave)
+ Kimi gets fired ,possible.
Lewis has a big fall out with Bottas,resulting in crashes etc,also possible.

 

IMO if Lewis leaves Merc he'll be leaving the sport, too. I highly doubt he'll go to Ferrari. If he does I won't support the team, at all.

 

You don't know the whole story Bas....Mclaren did pay 100 mil as a fine...but Merc ....you've got PM

 

Lol, people still hating. You don't have a clue what you're talking about.

Try to drop the hater mindset for a minute - if you were sold on starting a project with a big time F1 legend and big time engine manufacturer, yet in year 3 you are unable to complete a simple practice session or even start races (as was the case last week) what would you do?

 

I don't see the hating you are talking about here.

Perhaps people making fun of McLaren unreliability, but most people respect Alonso and recognise he is a top driver.

Perhaps you have a clue yourself? Please enlighten us ...

 

Alonso has every right to be frustrated and want out. 3 years and Honda is going backwards?
Alonso is good enough to find a decent seat.