Alonso red flags McLaren again

Fernando Alonso on Thursday said he’d give McLaren a chance to settle their plans before making a decision about his future, but warned that he wouldn’t stick around in a losing car.

The frustrated two-time world champion’s car has failed to complete six races this season and he has been making noises all season about leaving the British team, who are widely expected to dump their misfiring Honda engines and go with Renault instead.

“Whatever I do next year is because I want to win. I will not be around in any series to be fighting for top 10 or top 15,” Alonso told reporters ahead of this weekend’s Singapore GP.

“There are many options out there that I’m looking at. Formula One is my first and only priority so I will wait to make a decision on that before making decisions on other series.

“At the same time I want to give time to my team. After the last three years, the struggles we went through together, to have time for them to make decisions, to see the future, next year’s car. And after they take decisions I will take mine.”

Alonso’s comments appear to hint that he will stay at McLaren next year if they axe Honda, which is strongly rumoured to happen before Sunday’s race.

Alonso, 36, is one of the oldest drivers on the grid, and he also hankers for becoming only the second man after Graham Hill to complete motorsport’s Triple Crown, winning the Monaco GP, Indy 500 and Le Mans.