By Joey Barnes, Editor-in-Chief
Fernando Alonso has admitted to F1i.com that the fate of his Formula 1 future will be decided at the break during the summer.
The 35-year-old Spaniard is in the final year of his current contract with McLaren. Since jumping over from Ferrari at the end of 2014, the two-time world champion has struggled due in large part to the rebuilding process that has taken place in Woking and with engine supplier Honda.
Although 2017 brings new regulation changes and hope that the MCL32 will be a contender for the storied team once more, Alonso isn’t certain it could be enough to keep him around.
“From the sport I am expecting change in terms of how exciting it is to drive these cars,” Alonso said during Friday’s McLaren launch. “If we go back to what we had in the past a little bit, how we manage also the tires, the fuel, the charge…
“All these difficulties that we have in the modern F1 in last four or five years with the turbo engine, it has lowered a little bit the racing spirit. We were saving something – batteries, tires or fuel, not a single lap in the race we could push as much as we wanted.”
The anticipation for the upcoming season comes with the overhaul, but Alonso wants the “fighting spirit” back into F1.
“Definitely I hope these new regs bring back a bit the fighting spirit and racing spirit and that is something we find out in the first couple of races.”
Could the new regulations be something that keeps the McLaren driver around? Maybe, but he doesn’t intend to figure that out until deep into the season.
“I will see,” said Alonso.
“That’s a question that I will answer after the summer break – around September is a good time to start thinking and sitting with yourself, and start deciding what to do.”
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