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Formula One: Fernando Alonso officially signs new contract with McLaren for 2018

By Asher Fair

SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team McLaren MCL32 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 8, 2017 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
SUZUKA, JAPAN - OCTOBER 08: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team McLaren MCL32 on track during the Formula One Grand Prix of Japan at Suzuka Circuit on October 8, 2017 in Suzuka. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) /
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It’s official; Fernando Alonso will be staying with McLaren in the 2018 Formula One season, ending months of speculation otherwise.

Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso finally signed a contract to remain with McLaren in the 2018 season, ending months of speculation that he would be leaving the team and perhaps even moving to IndyCar. The contract is believed to be for one year with options that could extend it to the 2019 season and perhaps beyond.

Alonso has driven full-time for McLaren in each of the past three seasons, but he has never finished on the podium in 52 starts with the team. In fact, in his 52 starts, he has just 31 finishes, a total that is smaller than his career win total of 32. This season alone, he has started 14 races and finished just five of them with a top result of 6th place at Hungary.

This lack of success has come in large part due to the lack of power and reliability of the Honda engines that McLaren has used since 2015. In fact, Alonso grew frustrated with his uncompetitive ride in Formula One and went overseas this past May to drive in the Indianapolis 500 for the first time, skipping the Monaco Grand Prix in doing so.

Alonso qualified in 5th place in his first appearance in the “Greatest Spectacle in Racing” in his #29 McLaren-Honda Andretti Autosport Honda, but he ended up finishing in 24th ironically due to an engine failure with 21 laps to go in the race.

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Mainly because of Alonso’s frustrations and the fact that he wants a competitive ride in Formula One, McLaren decided to switch to Renault engines for the 2018 season. Toro Rosso, which currently uses Renault engines, will is set to switch to Honda.

When McLaren announced their switch to Renault last month, it was assumed that Alonso would be staying with the team next year. In fact, Formula One chairman emeritus Bernie Ecclestone was excited to hear the news, although he believes that McLaren may end up disappointed after a while even with their Renault engines.

"“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.”"

Next: Which drivers will drive for Mercedes and Ferrari in 2019?

But it took over a full month for Fernando Alonso to officially sign a contract to stay with McLaren; his stay was not confirmed right away despite the fact that many, including Bernie Ecclestone, thought otherwise. This caused there to be further speculation that he may not return to the team. However, he will indeed be back in 2018.

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