Formula 1: Fernando Alonso likely not returning to McLaren in 2019

By Asher Fair | Apr 20, 2018

SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 15: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren F1 on the drivers parade before the Formula One Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on April 15, 2018 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images) /

Two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso has been linked with a probable exit from McLaren following the conclusion of the 2018 season.

The days of two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso in the sport may be numbered, as reports suggest that he is set to leave McLaren following the conclusion of the 2018 season, prompting tons of speculation as to who his replacement might be and where he might end up in 2019.

Alonso, 36, is in his 17th season as a full-time Formula 1 drivers, and he is in his fifth season as a full-time Formula 1 driver for McLaren, of which four have been in the last four years. Aside of his rookie season in 2001 when he drove for Minardi, Alonso has experienced his least amount of success driving for McLaren from the 2015 season until now.

Over the course of his career, which he has spent driving for four different teams, Alonso has driven in 294 races, a total that is ranked fourth on the all-time Formula 1 starts list. Of those 294 races, he has won 32 of them, a total that is ranked sixth on the all-time Formula 1 wins list.

As referenced above, Alonso drove for Minardi in the 2001 season, his rookie season in the sport. After not driving full-time in the 2002 season and only driving as a test driver for Renault, he signed with Renault in the 2003 season, where he drove until the 2006 season came to an end. He won his first career Formula 1 race driving for the team in the 2003 Hungarian Grand Prix.

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It was during his four seasons driving for Renault when Alonso won his two championships. In fact, he put an end to the era that was dominated by the greatest Formula 1 driver of all-time, Michael Schumacher.

Coming into the 2005 Formula 1 season, Schumacher had won each of the last five Formula 1 championships. Aside of Schumacher, Juan Manuel Fangio had (and only Fangio has) five career championships, and Schumacher had won five in a row at the time. Yet in that 2005 season, it was Alonso taking the fight to Schumacher and winning the title, and he did so again in the 2006 season as well.

Alonso then went on to drive for McLaren in the 2007 season before returning to Renault in the 2008 season and the 2009 season. In the 2010 season, he went to Scuderia Ferrari, where he stayed until the end of the 2014 season before returning to McLaren, where he still drives, in the 2015 season.

With Alonso, whose most recent Formula 1 win came in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix, being 36 years old, it is unlikely that another team will sign him if he does end up leaving McLaren following the end of the 2018 Formula 1 season like many reports are indicating that he will. If he ends up leaving the sport altogether, he has truly had a remarkable career in it.

Next: Top 10 Formula 1 drivers of all-time

Will the 2018 Formula 1 season really end up being the last season during which Fernando Alonso drives in the sport full-time? If so, which driver will replace him, and where, if anywhere, will he end up driving in the 2019 season?

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