Fernando Alonso indicated he will leave McLaren Formula 1 at the end of the year "if he does not see signs they can be competitive by September," according to Andrew Benson of the BBC. The two-time world champion is "out of contract" at the end of this season. Alonso said, "We have to win. If we are winning before September, when I will make a decision, I will stay." When pointed out this was "unlikely," he said, "I joined this project to win the title. If you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change project." However, the Spaniard said that he had "not yet started to think seriously about his future." Alonso added, "Until I sit down with myself in September, I cannot say for sure" (BBC, 6/8). AUTOWEEK's Sam Hall reported Alonso previously stated that he "would depart the team unless he could foresee a dramatic turnaround in fortunes" for '18, and it appears he would not be willing to stay even if the team was "to switch suppliers back to Mercedes." Alonso: "It doesn't make any change in my opinion. You never know. You can never be 100 percent certain in June about a decision for next year that I haven't even started to consider. We all want to win, and I think (McLaren Exec Dir) Zak’s (Brown) comments about Honda yesterday are what you would expect him to say. He wants to win. He wants to put McLaren back as a contender for championships" (AUTOWEEK, 6/8).
HELPING HONDA: Benson also reported F1 Managing Dir Ross Brawn said that he "offered to help" McLaren's engine partner, Honda, with its performance problems. Brawn said, "I have had some discussions with them to see if I can help them have any clarity on what they need to do for the future." He added, "We value Honda as part of the sport and if we can do anything to support their efforts to improve for the future we will do that" (BBC, 6/9).
