0
McLaren CEO Zak Brown says that he hasn't discussed a possible race return with Fernando Alonso yet.
The Woking squad announced on Wednesday that the Spaniard would take on an ambassador role at the team for the 2019 season. Alonso is expected to drive the car later this year, and help the team develop the MCL34 as well as build the MCL35.
Alonso stepped away from a full-time Formula 1 seat at the end of the 2018 season, after competing in the midfield for a number of years. However, any talk of a possible future return has not crept up yet.
"We haven't discussed it," Brown said. "We'll cross that bridge if we come to it, we're very happy with our two drivers. McLaren has aspirations in a variety of motorsports so to have Fernando's talent and experience inside the McLaren camp is a great part of our performance recovery that we're on.
"I've tried to get the best talent with Andreas Seidl, James Key, Pat Fry, and to have Fernando part of the development programme is a very important piece to the puzzle to make us competitive again."
Following his departure from a full-time F1 seat, Alonso remained keen on staying within the McLaren family. The double world champion will race at the Indianapolis 500 later this year, a deal that was confirmed last October.
"From last summer, we've been discussing different scenarios," Alonso said. "The first one to secure was the Indy 500 run because of the timings and preparation that is needed to run there. But over the winter break, we kept discussing things.
"Today we announced it [the ambassador role], but we've known for a couple of weeks that this was happening. I'm very happy and proud to stay involved with McLaren to try and help and give my support to the F1 team and the younger generation of drivers."
The Circuit de Catalunya's current contract expires after its 2019 event, with doubt lingering over its spot on the future calendars. Speaking about the situation, Alonso laughed: "If Carlos [Sainz] wins the first two or three races of the year, the grandstands will be full."
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Grand Prix of BelgiumLocal time
Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
M. Verstappen
C. Sainz jr
C. Leclerc
Bahrain
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit
Saudi Arabia
Jeddah Street Circuit
Australia
Albert Park
Japan
Circuit Suzuka
United States of America
Miami International Autodrome
Monaco
Monte Carlo
Canada
Gilles Villeneuve
Spain
Circuit de Catalunya
Austria
Red Bull Ring
United Kingdom
Silverstone
Hungary
Hungaroring
Belgium
Spa-Francorchamps
Netherlands
Circuit Zandvoort
Italy
Monza
Azerbaijan
Baku City Circuit
Singapore
Marina Bay Street Circuit
United States of America
Circuit of the Americas
Mexico
Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
Brazil
Interlagos
United States of America
Las Vegas Street Circuit
United Arab Emirates
Yas Marina Circuit
185,379 comments on Aston Martin
78 members have this team as their favourite
Tweets about Fernando Alonso
281,234 comments on McLaren 156 members have this team as their favourite Tweets about McLaren
Replies (0)
Login to reply