[RoadSurfer]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

I don't think he will be back as both parties (Maclaren and Alonso) speaking good of each other is just PR talk in my opinion. They don't want to wash any more dirty linen in public than what has already been done.

Behind the scenes I feel Maclaren must be pretty fed up of his drama and the insulting unnessary statements he was making. Plus, the kind of money they are paying him would be better utilized in car development.

Cheers

With due respect to your views, I don't agree with you. The news going around is that McLaren is planning a full Indy500 season in 2019 with Alonso in their car. If they wanted to get rid of Alonso, I see no reason for them to get into Indy500 and that too with him.
For how I look at the current situation is that this is a win-win for both the parties. Alonso with all his capabilities should have won atleast 5-6 F1 world championships. But he know this is not possible now. So best thing he can do is to have a go at the unofficial Triple crown of motorsports. 2 are already in the bag. This also gives McLaren to try and test success somewhere else just for a change, but more importantly they get to keep Alonso within the team. Should the team change it's fortune in 2019, ALonso will be back in their F1 car for 2020.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by RoadSurfer

With due respect to your views, I don't agree with you. The news going around is that McLaren is planning a full Indy500 season in 2019 with Alonso in their car. If they wanted to get rid of Alonso, I see no reason for them to get into Indy500 and that too with him.
For how I look at the current situation is that this is a win-win for both the parties. Alonso with all his capabilities should have won atleast 5-6 F1 world championships. But he know this is not possible now. So best thing he can do is to have a go at the unofficial Triple crown of motorsports. 2 are already in the bag. This also gives McLaren to try and test success somewhere else just for a change, but more importantly they get to keep Alonso within the team. Should the team change it's fortune in 2019, ALonso will be back in their F1 car for 2020.

His talent is undisputed, it's the wrong decisions and bad attitude in the face of adversity which is the bone of contention here. However, whether he actually would have won 5-6 championships is pure conjecture.

Mclaren may be trying to get an return of investment, it's business after all. Carlin thinks it's too late for an IndyCar entry for 2019, but, with Mclaren's resources it may be possible.

I still think a return to F1 is out for him

Time will tell, let's see.

Cheers

[fusionbang]

Originally Posted by fz_rider

One veteran down, let's see what Kimi does. This will probably give Vandroone some breathing space. If he performs well in second half, maybe he can keep the seat.

Kimi has already confirmed his stay with Ferrari for next 2 years.

On the other hand, some bad decisions went against for Alonso and somehow I was not interested to be a fan of him when he was in Ferrari. Hard luck for him.

[fz_rider]

Originally Posted by fusionbang

Kimi has already confirmed his stay with Ferrari for next 2 years.

I don't buy this 2 year deal news. A two year deal would mean handing him to a competitor. Ferrari can keep him quiet by handing a HAAS drive for next year, but if he drives exceptionally, he will be expecting top drive in 2020. Leclerc is Ferrari's Verstappen. They won't let him go that easily.
Kimi is doing good for 2019, unless he beats Vettel next year, I don't see him continuing.

[Geo_Ipe]

I remember watching Alonso finish his first F1 race 5th in a Minardi! Was a very impressive drive with a very inferior machine.

His two titles were a treat to watch as well. Beating Micheal Schumacher's Ferrari, when MS was on the back of winning 4-5 successive championships was memorable!

[fz_rider]

So, from 'Alonso retiring' , it becomes ' Alonso not racing F1 in 2019'. That's clever from him. He didn't mention retirement in his statement, just said he needed change. In case McLaren finds pace next season, he might have chance in 2020. He'll even try to get to get a seat at other viable options. He's certainly not done with F1, if he was, he could've left a year or two back.

[Gonewiththewind]

That's really sad. Alonso is a great driver sadly packed in to that slow McLaren. I hope he makes a comeback in 2020 or so in a better car and give tough competition to Lewis and Vettel.
I remember that time when Kimi took a break in 2009 and came back in 2012 after his NASCAR and WRC stints and slowly managed his way back to Ferrari. Wish something like that happening to Alonso.

[SilentEngine]

Originally Posted by Gonewiththewind

That's really sad. Alonso is a great driver sadly packed in to that slow McLaren. I hope he makes a comeback in 2020 or so in a better car and give tough competition to Lewis and Vettel.

I remember that time when Kimi took a break in 2009 and came back in 2012 after his NASCAR and WRC stints and slowly managed his way back to Ferrari. Wish something like that happening to Alonso.

When Kimi made a come back, things were different. He could go back to Ferrari because of his good couple of seasons with Lotus where he clearly outperformed the expectation and importantly Ferrari wanted a change as the partnership with Alonso was not working out as expected, and they did not have any other good driver immediately available to join.
For Alonso to make a comeback, McLaren need to get back to the top pretty soon and they should still have a need for Alonso.

[motorworks]

So Alonso and his Toyota team mates win the WEC at Silverstone! I do not follow WEC and have heard some controversies around some regulations which sort of favour Toyota, but not sure about all that, but one thing is for sure, Alonso is going to continue Racing in Indy and other series like WEC very actively for the next 2 years at least. And if he is in the right teams, he will win for sure! Should he come back to F1 in 2021? I do not think so! Even in 2021, top teams like Merc, Ferrari and RBR may not want him, unless Seb and Lewis both retire. And secondly with the regulations changing drastically in 2021, it would be very tough to gauge who is going to get the car right. So why would Alonso come again and take that risk?

Rather he wins on and off in the other racing series, continues to make good amount of money and probably retires in 3 years time. That would be my guess.

[motorworks]

Wow, some bad luck! Toyota are stripped off the win in WEC that happened in Silverstone on Sunday! And that means Alonso loses that as well! WEC sounds as political as F1!

[Surprise]

http://www.f1i.com/news/314420-door-...TIMi0g.twitter

Right now I’m thinking that it’s a goodbye. But you know, life changes very quickly," said the two-time world champion.

"Life also taught me in the past how things may change, in couple of months' time or in years' time.

"As I said also in the press release when we announced the retirement, [I wanted] to leave the door open because I don’t have the crystal ball to know what’s going to happen in the future.

"As I said, for me it’s a bye-bye, but who knows in the future?"

[Hatari]

He continues to make headlines.

Fernando Alonso rejected Red Bull
http://www.skysports.com/f1/news/124...ected-red-bull


He's just fooling around im sure.

[Joxster]

Drivers, ex-drivers, motorsport stars and many more say their goodbyes to Fernando Alonso as he steps away from F1 after 17 years .

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GE9Ldtv4JCU

Cheers

[ninjatalli]

End of a era of a great driver's career for sure. One of the best in the world? Probably not; I'd say he's one of the great drivers of the last two decades.

His career started brilliantly with Renault, reaching the peak in 2005, althought it helped that Ferrari and a few other teams were handicapped by Bridgestone's tires due to which Renault and Mclaren-Mercedes had a literal run of the podiums.

But then the weird decision to jump ship in 2007 did all the undoing to a brilliant setup; he was clearly Renault's No.1 driver and he had back to back great seasons finishing at the top. But to me, that was the peak of his career; never really came to the top after that.

He was always one of the contenders after that. A pity, as he did have potential. As seen in Vettel's sarcastic remark in the above video - "see you later when you rejoin"

Originally Posted by Joxster

Drivers, ex-drivers, motorsport stars and many more say their goodbyes to Fernando Alonso as he steps away from F1 after 17 years .

[RM Motorsports]

Mclaren pays tribute to Alonso. Gracias Fernando !

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZrN6AfKzNjU