Fernando Alonso to McLaren: Latest News and Rumours on Ferrari Driver
Fernando Alonso is expected to drive under the colours of McLaren next season, as speculation continues over the future of the veteran Spanish driver.
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Thursday, Nov. 20
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Ferrari Confirms Alonso Exit
Ferrari officially announced on Thursday, as expected, that Alonso will end his five-year stay with the team. The F1 outfit's official Twitter posted:
Sebastian Vettel has been named as Alonso's replacement:
Monday Nov. 10
Alonso Expected to Join McLaren
McLaren are reportedly close to confirming Alonso as one of their drivers for the 2015 season.
That’s according to Jonathan Noble of Autosport.com, who has claimed that the two-time world champion has already put the finishing touches to a deal that will see him rejoin McLaren; his first stint with the team ended in bitter circumstances, with both parties agreeing to go their separate ways in 2007 after just one season of a three-year deal.
The piece goes on to say that an announcement should be made before the Abu Dhabi season finale, with McLaren deliberating over which of their current drivers would be the best partner for the 32-time Grand Prix winner.
According to Spanish newspaper AS, the deal set to be signed by the 2005 and 2006 world champion will be the biggest contract in the sport’s history:
Should the deal go through, Alonso will almost certainly be the No. 1 at McLaren when the 2015 calendar gets underway, but there has been speculation as to whether the experience of Jenson Button or the potential of Kevin Magnussen would be the best foil for the former Renault man.
The double world champion added some fuel to this debate by insisting that he thinks Button—a former team-mate in their younger days with the Benetton team—is a man who should remain in the sport, per Andrew Benson of BBC Sport: "Hopefully he will stay. He is a very talented driver, a great character and good person. People like him are good for our sport. Whether we will see him on the grid, you need to ask McLaren."
Nonetheless, according to a different piece by Benson, it is Magnussen who is emerging as the man most likely to play second fiddle to Alonso next year. Button has outperformed the rookie Dane this season and is currently sitting seventh in the drivers’ championship on 106 points, 51 ahead of his team-mate.
Despite enduring a difficult 2014 with Ferrari—at the time of writing, the Spaniard is fifth in the drivers' standings—Alonso is a man that has preserved a reputation as one of the finest drivers in the field. And although his last race win came in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix and his last world title was eight years ago, his race craft and quality remains undeniable.
You suspect the Ferrari man would be delighted to get another crack with McLaren too. After all, upon leaving in 2007, Alonso insisted that he had always dreamed of driving for the Woking team, per BBC Sport. It's also worth remembering that at the end of that tumultuous campaign, Alonso was only one point back on the eventual world champion Kimi Raikkonen.
But as good as Alonso is, McLaren are going to have to produce a better package if he’s to be challenging for race wins and world titles next season. They’re currently fifth in the constructors standings with one race to go, and problems with pace and reliability have frustratingly sapped any momentum out of their season.
After a career that began with some remarkable highs, the Spaniard should be approaching his peak years as a driver. He has the experience, knows what it take to win and will be hungry to right a few wrongs should he eventually commit his future to McLaren; subsequently, we should see a better Alonso in 2015 than what we've seen in 2014.
And while it’s all well and good paying the Ferrari man a stratospheric salary, he’ll need the tools to facilitate a McLaren rise. So a substantial share of onus will be on the rest of the team to conjure a competitive car; do that, and Alonso has the requisite attributes to make the 2015 season a memorable one for McLaren.
All figures and statistics courtesy of Formula1.com
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