Formula One: Fernando Alonso set to stay with McLaren in 2018

Ending months of speculation, Fernando Alonso is set to stay with McLaren in the 2018 Formula One season after the team announced that they would switch from Honda to Renault engines.

Fernando Alonso is set to return to Formula One in the 2018 season, and he is set to do so with McLaren. The team announced yesterday that they would be switching from Honda to Renault engines next year, effectively granting Alonso’s wish.

Now, the team is set to go one step further and potentially sign Alonso to a contract for next season, which would end months of speculation about different destinations where he may land in 2018, including other Formula One teams and even the United States-based Verizon IndyCar Series.

Alonso’s chief complaint about the Honda engines in his McLaren machine has been their lack of reliability, and his complaints hold water. Of the 13 Formula One races contested this season, Alonso has competed in 11 of them. Of those 11, he has failed to finish eight of them, with five of those eight failures to finish being official retirements.

More from Formula One

In the three races he has finished, the two-time Formula One world champion has done so in 12th place, 9th place and 6th place at Spain, Azerbaijan and Hungary, respectively.

While Formula One’s chairman emeritus Bernie Ecclestone was excited about Alonso staying in the sport, he thinks McLaren may end up disappointed after a while.

"“The Renault deal is all done. Alonso staying is super news…But I can’t see why McLaren will be any happier with Renault than they are with Honda. It wasn’t Honda’s fault things didn’t work out, it was McLaren’s. Every day they had a fight about everything, instead of working with them, which was a little bit stupid.”"

It will certainly be interesting to see how things play out next year and if Alonso and the team in general can improve on the positions they are in right now if his stay does become confirmed. Alonso currently sits in 15th place of 20 full-time drivers in the drivers standings, while McLaren sits in 9th out of 10 teams in the constructor standings thanks to the fact that Alonso has struggled and Stoffel Vandoorne, his McLaren teammate, has also struggled and sits just 18th in the drivers standings.

Next: Looking back at Lewis Hamilton's record 69 poles

Are you surprised by Fernando Alonso sticking with McLaren for next season? Let us know in the comments below, and be sure to follow along with Beyond the Flag for the latest news, opinions and analysis stemming from a number of different motorsports series. You don’t want to miss any of it. Also be sure to follow Beyond the Flag on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Home/Formula One