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Alonso says he has options to be winning in 2018
Fernando Alonso says he has options to be in a position to be winning races in 2018 and insists he feels optimistic about his future.
Pablo Elizalde
Edited: Sep 1, 2017, 6:03 PM
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The two-time champion's contract with McLaren expires at the end of the current season, and Alonso has said often he will make a decision about his future in September.
The Spanish driver appears to be short on options to be in a winning position in Formula 1 next year, however, with all the seats at the frontrunning teams already taken.
But Alonso said on Friday that he remains positive he will have a car with which he can win races, suggesting he could leave F1 if needed.
"I'm going to have to sit down with all the options that we have and decide what's the best one," said Alonso on Friday at Monza.
"I believe there are options in the market to be winning next year and that's going to be my only intention, and if I can't find them or see them, I'll try to win wherever I go.
"But I think it will go well and I'm optimistic," he added.
Aside from McLaren, Renault and Williams have been mentioned in the past as two F1 teams that could potentially field the Spaniard in 2018.
The Renault chance, however, was played down significantly in the lead-up to the Italian GP, as the French marque admitted it wasn't ready to accommodate the Spaniard before Alonso himself echoed the sentiment on Thursday, praising Renault for being "honest".
He also said on Thursday that he was "getting nervous now" about his 2018 plans, adding: "I will start sitting down with the team [McLaren] especially what are the prospects for the future, what are the expectations for next year.
"We do have now some ingredients now to be champions. The team did improve a lot in the last three years when I arrived here so I think we have the talent in the team, we have the facilities and everything. We just miss to be more competitive, which is the most important thing arguably."
As for Alonso's options outside of F1, IndyCar has been often brought up as a possible destination for the Spaniard, ever since his Indy 500 debut in May.
The team he contested the Indianapolis race with - Andretti Autosport-Honda - only has three drivers confirmed for 2018,
McLaren boss Zak Brown said on Friday that negotiations with Alonso were going "very well", although he conceded the team had alternative targets in case the Spaniard decides to leave.
"I'll be spending more time with him this weekend, and his decision is going to be based on whether he thinks we're going to be competitive or not. He's not been engine-specific in his desires," Brown said.
"He hasn't signed with us yet, negotiations are ongoing, they are going very well, but you've got to have Plan B and C, in the event that you don't reach an agreement, and we've got those plans."
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