Alonso eying the “Holy Grail” of motorsport

Fernando Alonso has cast doubt over the future of his Formula One career after his recent success in the Le Man 24 Hour. Speaking to the media after winning the prestigious 24-hour race alongside team-mates Kazuki Nakajima and Sebastien Buemi in a dominant Toyota one-two, the Spaniard revealed that he will spend the summer deciding if his future lies the sport that has seen him win two World Championships over an 18-year period, or if he attempts to become just the second man to win the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

With Alonso having added the le Mans win to his 2007 and 2008 race wins around the streets of Monaco, victory in the Indy 500 is all that is standing in the way of him making history.

“I will make my mind up after the summer what I will do next year but after winning Le Mans, Indy comes into play with a high priority,” Alonso told the Guardian.

“Let’s see if it is next year or the following year. Let’s see what the future of F1 will be.”

If Alonso wants to join the only man to have achieved this feat, Graham Hill, he will have to consider his future over the next few months. In 2017 he skipped the Monaco Grand Prix to participate in the Indy 500, something he could possibly repeat next year.

Another option could be to make a clean break and shift over to Indy fulltime. If rumors are to be believed, McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has admitted that the team are currently doing some due diligence around the possible return to IndyCar Series.

Brown said: “We’re seriously considering IndyCar, we’ve been doing some due diligence for quite some time.

“As stated before, if we’re going to get into other forms of motorsport which McLaren has a great history in, we need to do it in a way that first and foremost doesn’t compromise our Formula 1 activities, or we wouldn’t consider it.

“It needs to be commercially viable, something we feel we can be competitive in, and fits our brand. It has to tick all of those boxes, not most of those boxes.

“We’re not done yet with our due diligence, but it’s looking favorable. So we’ll take a decision in order to be prepared for 2019 sometime in the upcoming months, and if we’re confident we can tick those boxes, then it’s something we’ll probably move forward on. But we’re not done with the journey yet.”

During the 1970’s McLaren built a strong legacy as a works team with Penske, that ran McLaren chassis and by the time they pulled out in 1979 they had amassed 28 race wins.

Judging by the comments coming from Brown, McLaren’s keen interest to get back into the Indy seat and Fernando Alonso’s ambition to become one of motorsports history makers, it is clear to see that the Formula One chapter in his career will inevitably come to an end this season.