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F1 2015: Where Will Fernando Alonso be?

Five years ago we knew that two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso would be joining the oldest and grandest team in the sport for 2010 – Ferrari. On paper it was a match made in heaven: the greatest driver in the field according to many combined with the team who had won more championships than any other over the last decade. The Spanish Bull paired with the Italian Prancing Horse. It hasn’t been like that and the partnership has yielded just four pole positions, 11 victories and no world titles over the last five years and seemingly the partnership will come to a close. With Alonso often being regarded by his peers and many others as the best driver around, certainly the fastest on a Sunday afternoon, it seems odd to think that Alonso might not be on the grid for 2015, I take a look at his chances of being with each team and a few other possibilities too…

Mercedes

Niki Lauda blasted any rumours that Alonso was set to replace Lewis Hamilton or Nico Rosberg at World Champions Mercedes as ‘stupid’. Alonso himself ‘doesn’t think’ that he will have a Mercedes engine in his car for 2015, so it looks very unlikely that he will go there. Why would Mercedes want to change a winning team anyway? For 2016, however…

Red Bull-Renault

Alonso had a chance to go to Red Bull all the way back in 2008, but with Red Bull’s policy of putting their young stars ahead of big names, and with Daniil Kvyat set to replace the outgoing Sebastian Vettel, I somehow do not believe that Alonso will end up here.

Williams-Mercedes

Williams have Alonso’s ex-team mate Felipe Massa and rising star Valtteri Bottas currently confirmed for 2015, and a Mercedes engine. I can’t see Alonso ending up here.

Ferrari

What if Alonso stays at Ferrari? Officially he has not left the team yet, nor has Sebastian Vettel officially confirmed that he has signed for them (although Christian Horner has already leaked that he is off to Maranello for 2015) and the prospect of Ferrari having Alonso and Vettel is one that well and truly wets the appetite of the neutral. Given the much-needed change that Ferrari is going through at the moment, with Luca di Montezemolo and Stefano Domenicalli both out – two people he was very close to, it almost seems as if his relationship with Ferrari has strained just that bit too much to see him there for another season. Another issue would be with Kimi Räikkönen. I very much doubt that Ferrari would like to pay Räikkönen to not drive for them again, as they did to bring Alonso to the team in the first place!

McLaren-Honda

Now this is where the action is really happening. Honda wants a really big name in their car for next year, which is effectively a given. Although Jenson Button has not performed too badly at all in the previous races, and Kevin Magnussen has shown some absolutely unbelievable speed at times, both are under fire as it seems more and more likely that Alonso is set to return to the team and team principal which he so famously fell out with in 2007. Alonso is just one name linked with McLaren – Hamilton and Romain Grosjean are also linked as well as the very impressive youngster Stoffel Vandoorne. If you were a team boss though, surely you would pick Alonso out of those, especially as Lauda and Ron Dennis rubbished the Hamilton links to McLaren also. McLaren are adamant that they are yet to sign any drivers, so we could see Alonso being denied here too.

Force India-Mercedes

This one would be an odd switch for Alonso. The team seem happy with their current line-up, especially with Sergio Pérez’ recent rise in form and Nico Hulkenberg’s decent points tally. They also have a Mercedes engine which Alonso does not believe he will be running with next year.

Toro Rosso-Renault

It’s Red Bull’s junior team, Alonso isn’t off to here.

Lotus-Mercedes

This is the team that Alonso won his two titles with in 2005 and 2006. The team has gone sharply backwards this year and are notably suffering from financial problems. They have Pastor Maldonado confirmed but with Mercedes engines confirmed for next year at last, they seem as if Romain Grosjean is set to be retained for another season.

Marussia-Ferrari

I somehow do not think that Alonso will be with Marussia for 2015. Anyhow, their prime concern is the wellbeing of their driver Jules Bianchi, not who will be driving for them next season.

Sauber-Ferrari

Another team with financial problems, Alonso’s sponsorship would be a massive asset to Sauber, and that’s before we get to what he would deliver on the track compared to current drivers Adrian Sutil and Esteban Gutiérrez. However, whilst this would be excellent for Sauber, Alonso is not getting any younger, and he needs a team which will deliver race wins from the word go – something which Sauber has done once (whilst they were BMW Sauber), so I doubt Alonso would head here.

Caterham-Renault

Perhaps the oddest rumour of them all is that Alonso is going to buy Caterham and he will drive for his own team… I can’t quite see it happening, not for next year anyway.

Sportscars

One option which I have seen is that Alonso takes a year out, joins Nissan’s brand new LMP1 program and take part in the World Endurance Championship including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and hope that he can get himself a Mercedes seat for 2016. Whilst this move does seem plausible, it is a pretty risky one. Mark Webber made the switch for this year and he has so far struggled with his Porsche.

Cycling

Alonso is a keen cyclist, he also owns a cycling team, so should he take a year out, cycling could well be an option, be it taking part or in a managerial role. This sort of thing would not help with 2016 preparations however, but should he be considering calling motor racing a day, it is certainly one option.

Retirement

It seems crazy that we are talking about the possibility of a 33-year old considering retirement. Alonso is at the very peak of his ability at the moment, as are most drivers at that age, but should he effectively be pushed out of any race seat, he may have to call Formula One quits. He may not quit racing altogether however, with both Le Mans and the Indy 500 boasting hugely competitive fields and with only one other driver ever winning those two plus the Monaco Grand Prix throughout the history of motor racing – Graham Hill, Alonso could attempt to replicate this by winning the other two parts of the Triple Crown.

In short:

Some of these options look very viable, though I do believe the McLaren one is possibly the best for Alonso given the lack of competitive seats elsewhere. Given the events of the Japanese Grand Prix, this announcement, or any announcement, from Ferrari or Alonso himself could take a while to come to light. I’m pretty sure that Alonso is back off to McLaren, I simply cannot see him at any other team and I cannot see McLaren letting this opportunity go, especially with the pressure from Honda for an absolutely top driver.

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