Alonso hints at possible F1 return but McLaren’s lavish farewell looks final
One could hardly accuse McLaren of restraint in their revelries for Fernando Alonso. Here under the twinkling lights of Yas Marina, the Spaniard is being lavished with the type of farewell that perhaps only Abu Dhabi, whose signature six-star hotel dispenses gold bars from the lobby ATM machine, can stage.
For Alonso’s 312th and final race in Formula One, his team have spared no expense, emblazoning their cars with the colours of his native region of Asturias, and even arranging for a giant-screen presentation of today’s grand prix in his hometown of Oviedo. It is all admirably loyal, but it does seem to flatter a man who has not achieved a podium finish since 2014.
Alonso ranks indisputably among the greats of his sport, a double world champion heralded by his peers as perhaps the finest and most daring racer on the grid. But his two titles in 2005 and 2006 already feel half a lifetime ago, as a consequence of some misjudged strategic calls, not least his decision to leave Ferrari just before they became championship contenders again, and to rejoin McLaren just as they began fading into oblivion.
For the best part of two years, Alonso has prefigured this move, growing exasperated with McLaren’s failings and indicating that he craved challenges beyond F1. His experience at last year’s Indianapolis 500 showed that he could find exhilaration elsewhere, and his feat this year in winning the Le Mans 24 Hours with Toyota took him one step closer to the triple crown of motorsport – only accomplished by Graham Hill – having won the Monaco Grand Prix twice. The fact remains, though, that if Alonso occupied a car that had even a fractional chance of victories, he would not be stepping away. Even at 37, he remains aware this sport is his lifeblood, and it is striking to hear how receptive he still is to the notion of returning. “Right now it’s difficult to think about coming back, but the door is not closed,” Alonso said. “I don’t know how I’ll feel next year. If I come back, it will be more about how I feel in the middle of next year.”
It did not exactly sound a definitive parting of ways, for all the apparent finality of the dinner staged in Alonso’s honour last night. But the prospects for any return look bleak. Mercedes would never countenance any approach for him, recalling the antagonism between Alonso and Lewis Hamilton during his first spell at McLaren in 2007. Ferrari have turned to youth in the shape of Charles Leclerc, while Red Bull’s Christian Horner hurt Alonso’s feelings by arguing earlier this year that he had never had serious thoughts about hiring him.
This looks like the end. He claims not to be preoccupied with the memory of his near-misses, but with pride at his body of work, which has encompassed 32 wins and 22 pole positions.
“Racing in other disciplines, other series, you realise that Formula One is a step higher, that it’s a matter of trying to find perfection in everything,” he said. “I will miss driving these cars the most. They are special.”
Aptly, Alonso signed off his last qualifying session yesterday with an indelible reminder of his gifts, outperforming Stoffel Vandoorne, his 26-year-old Belgian team-mate, for the 26th race weekend in succession.
As Hamilton, who registered a record-extending 83rd pole here, put it: “It has been a privilege to be in an era when he was racing.” That, at least, was a sentiment on which all of Alonso’s peers could agree.