McLaren has made it clear that Fernando Alonso is fully on board with the team for 2017, despite his name initially being linked with the vacant Mercedes drive.
The Spaniard visited the team’s base Tuesday and made a speech to the staff in which he reconfirmed his commitment.
The team quoted him on Twitter as saying, “I believe in this project, I’m committed, and I want to be World Champion with McLaren-Honda. That’s my only goal.”
Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had mentioned Alonso as a possible candidate, despite the obvious complications of him having a McLaren contract, and the fact that the last time he was Lewis Hamilton’s teammate, things ended badly.
Last week Flavio Briatore, who remains part of Alonso’s management team, told the Italian media that the driver would respect his contract with McLaren.
"I believe in this project." Fernando address the team at MTC today on his commitment to achieving his ultimate goal at #McLarenHonda. pic.twitter.com/PDwyJZo2si
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) December 13, 2016
