Fernando Alonso has refused to dismiss suggestions that he could walk away from McLaren if he is given another uncompetitive car next year. At first the Spaniard laughed off the idea but when pressed if he could absolutely rule out taking next season off as a sabbatical, he became more ambiguous. “I can never say 100% anything,” he said. “I cannot say that tomorrow I will not have dinner. I do not know if I will be hungry or not. My intention is to race. I think I will race. We will see how it goes next year. It’s not in my plans not to race.”
Earlier, as Alonso’s close friend Mark Webber described the double world champion as a “ticking bomb”‚ Ron Dennis suggested that his driver could take a break from the sport. When asked if the driver could miss the 2016 season if given another bad car, the McLaren chief said: “I have an open mind to anything. Some of the ideas have involved those sorts of considerations – sabbatical years. We have a great number of driver options. We have two of the best drivers in the world in our cars. At this moment our drivers of next year are Fernando and Jenson Button. [Fernando] will definitely finish his career in McLaren.”
Alonso’s previous spell with McLaren ended in a bitter rift with Dennis at the end of 2007, following the Spygate row. He stands 17th in the championship, five points behind Button and McLaren stand a dismal ninth out of the 10 teams on the grid.
Alonso is in the first of a three-year contract with the Woking-based team having switched from Ferrari, who have been resurgent this season. But should he quit McLaren next year, it would be difficult to see him returning in 2017. In all probability, it would signal the end of his Formula One career.
After the Japanese Grand Prix in September, in which he was openly critical of the underpowered Honda engine, he said he “didn’t know” whether he would race at McLaren next year. Later, he committed himself to the team on Twitter.
Clearly he is a deeply frustrated driver. Alonso will be 35 next year and his chances of winning a third title are slipping away. Even if Honda manage to improve their woeful power unit and McLaren make improvements to their indifferent car, it is difficult to see the team running better than mid-table next term. Alonso’s anguish is all the greater because Ferrari have taken a big step forward since he left the team last year.
Ferrari, however, could be in trouble with race officials, after Mercedes wrote to FIA stewards following concerns that the Italian team might have benefited from extra wind tunnel time, made accessible through their working relationship with the new F1 team Haas. A ruling is expected before Sunday’s race.
In qualifying, Nico Rosberg beat Lewis Hamilton again to make it six poles in a row as he maintained his recent edge in the Mercedes team. Hamilton’s wait for his 50th pole will now have to wait until next year. He has not qualified for the front of the grid since the Italian Grand Prix at Monza nearly three months ago.
Hamilton finished fastest in Q1 and Q2 but as the dusk changed to darkness and the lights came on Rosberg shone once more, bettering his team-mate by three-tenths of a second.
Hamilton, who has had some difficulty dismissing the notion that he has relaxed a little since winning his third world title in Austin last month, said: “It was a lot more comfortable in the beginning of the year for me. Coming into this weekend I’ve tried to make some changes. I’m disappointed with myself with one of the things I’ve taken off the car, but I couldn’t do anything. I’ve generally struggled all weekend, but Nico did such a good job today, in particular in Q3.
“It doesn’t really matter what the [qualifying] number is, what matters are the wins and the championship.”
Sebastian Vettel rued a costly error by his Ferrari team after he was surprisingly knocked out at the first stage of qualifying. Vettel, the four-time world champion, will start 16th at the Yas Marina Circuit after Ferrari miscalculated the cut-off time required to make it through to Q2. It leaves the German facing the uphill task of ending his debut season with Ferrari, which has yielded three victories, on a high. “I should have done a quicker lap and we could have made it, but in that moment we thought it was enough,” he said.
