In 2017, double world champion Fernando Alonso enters into his third and final year of his contract at McLaren-Honda. Could it, however, be his last in Formula One?
Spanning 16 seasons, and another as a test driver, Alonso has spent nearly half of his life racing within the sport.
From his rookie year at Minardi in 2001 and subsequent move to Renault, his efforts with the French manufacturer ended the five-year domination of Ferrari as he fought against McLaren’s Kimi Raikkonen for his first world championship in 2005 and then an attempted resurgence by Ferrari and Michael Schumacher to take the title again in 2006.
For years, Alonso has been regarded as one of the best racers on the grid and today many still argue he is one of the toughest opponents out there. Even if a car isn’t at it’s best, he can still get the most out of it as his 2012 campaign with Ferrari proved.
But is the Spaniard prepared to stay in the sport for much longer, especially if McLaren do not produce a winning car in 2017?
Despite having plenty of optimism over the new McLaren-Honda project back in 2015, when he first made his move back to the team, after the first test, it was clear that the package was slow and would not be competitive. A strange accident through Turn 3 at the Barcelona circuit, where he crashed onto the inside barrier and was hospitalised due to the resulting injuries, didn’t help and he had to miss the first race in Australia.
2016 saw a huge improvement for McLaren, scoring nearly three times as many points than they did in 2015, but it still wasn’t enough to be fighting at the sharper end of the field.
The 2017 regulations provide an opportunity to McLaren to move up the grid, with chassis regulations making their biggest change for nearly 20 years.
Alongside this, the restrictive power unit development token system has now been removed, this means Honda can now work without the restrictions of that system to rectify the issues that have plagued them since their return.
If McLaren were to produce a fast package; would that provide enough incentive for him to stay?
Another challenge for the Spaniard could be in the shape of Stoffel Vandoorne, the young Belgian driver has been revered as one hottest talents to make their way into F1 in recent years.
Feelings of deja vu could well come to Alonso as 10 years ago he faced the exact same scenario with Lewis Hamilton. However, despite the calamitous fallout between the pair then, they have since grown to have huge respect for each other.
When Vandoorne deputised for Alonso at the 2016 Bahrain Grand Prix, after again being ruled out of a race through injury following his horrendous accident in Australia, the Spaniard was very happy to support Vandoorne through the weekend, giving him advice and sitting on the pit wall.
Could this therefore mean that Alonso is far better prepared to have such a fast revered rookie alongside him again?
If McLaren do fail to deliver once more and not provide a winning car, Fernando could likely look elsewhere to race, but not in F1.
For many years he has stated he has wanted to race at the world famous Le Mans 24 hour event, and even the Indy 500 in the USA.
At a time since Nico Hulkenberg’s recent triumph at Le Mans in 2015 sparked up quite a debate as to whether drivers should be allowed to race in other series, Alonso may want to sign off on his time in the sport and perhaps look elsewhere.
Should he wish to attempt to race at either or both of these events, he could well challenge for the ‘Triple Crown’ of Motorsport, this record is held by only one person in history, that being Graham Hill.
It requires that a victory at the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans and the Indy 500. Could Alonso be after that special record before he retires?
Time will tell if Alonso is anymore happier with the state of play at McLaren and F1 ahead of the 2017 season, but he will surely make up his mind once the car has been tested come February, this would give him an indicator to the car’s potential.
If things don’t go well, it could very well be his last season in F1.
