Fernando Alonso warns decision on his future won't be announced before Abu Dhabi
Spaniard sixth in Brazil after eventually passing Kimi Raikkonen
Tuesday 25 November 2014 17:44, UK
Fernando Alonso has warned that an announcement on his future may not be made before the season-ending Abu Dhabi GP.
The Ferrari driver, who finished sixth in Interlagos on Sunday, is poised to replace Jenson Button at McLaren next season with his proposed deal described as the 'biggest in the history of F1'. According to reports in Spain, Alonso will visit McLaren’s Woking base on Wednesday when it is expected that he will finally put pen to paper to ratify his return to the team.
However, the two-time World Champion continues to hold his cards close to his chest in public, joking that a decision may not be announced until Melbourne in mid-March.
“Until Australia 2015 there is still a lot of months, but I’ll do something by then,” a smiling Alonso told Sky F1.
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Asked if confirmation of his intentions would be made before Abu Dhabi, the Spaniard replied: “I don’t think so, we are still in the middle of the championship with so many important things to do in terms of points so that is the first priority.”
Nevertheless, despite Alonso’s off-track reticence, the detail of Sunday’s on-track action provided a compelling clue that he is set to leave Ferrari after five years with the Scuderia at the end of the season. As Alonso’s three-stop strategy met the two-stopper of team-mate Kimi Raikkonen with ten laps remaining, the silence was deafening as the Scuderia pitwall declined to order the Finn to let the faster car through and chase down Sebastian Vettel.
Alonso eventually did force his way through, but after finishing ten seconds behind the Red Bull, said afterwards that he wouldn't have caught Vettel anyway.
"Vettel was a lot faster in the middle part of the race and then I had a little bit more degradation probably, the same as Magnussen, who was fast but with a little bit more deg," the Spaniard told reporters.
"At the end if I could have overtaken Kimi a little bit quicker I had to save fuel in the last couple of laps and so the battle with Sebastian was never a possibility."
With only the Abu Dhabi finale remaining on the calendar, Alonso is fifth in the Drivers' Championship, just one point ahead of Williams' Valtteri Bottas.