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McLaren confident Fernando Alonso won't leave for Mercedes

"We have a contract with Fernando and he is very happy," Zak Brown tells Sky Sports; F1 Report: Season Review at 8pm on Sky F1 on Wednesday night

McLaren have insisted Fernando Alonso will not be leaving the team to join Mercedes as Nico Rosberg's replacement.

The two-time world champion is still considered to be one of the best drivers in the sport and has been heavily linked with the vacancy as the Silver Arrows consider who should partner Lewis Hamilton next year.

Mercedes open search for Rosberg's replacement

But McLaren are adamant they have no fears about losing their star driver.

"We have a contract with Fernando and he is very happy," new McLaren boss Zak Brown told Sky Sports. "Obviously he wants to be winning races, as do we, but I am not worried about that scenario.

"We are very comfortable where we are at."

Brown was speaking to Sky Sports in an interview which will be played in full during Wednesday night's F1 Report: Season Review.

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McLaren team principal Eric Boullier, meanwhile, advised the Spaniard against teaming up with Hamilton for the second time in his career.

"They are rumours, and everyone loves them," Boullier told Sky Sports News HQ's Craig Slater. "But we have a contract in place.

"I don't think it would be a good move, in a year like this, against Lewis who feels very much at home in Brackley."

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McLaren's Eric Boullier admits he was shocked to hear of Nico Rosberg's retirement, but does not expect Fernando Alonso to replace him at Mercedes

Alonso rejoined McLaren for 2015, signing a three-year deal which the team insisted was binding with no performance-related opt-out clauses included.

From the archives: Alonso signed three-year deal with McLaren

"He has a straight three-year contract with us, with no options," then-McLaren chief Ron Dennis said. "It's as simple as that. That's what we wanted to offer him, and that's what he wanted to sign. I can't make it plainer than that, can I?"

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