Fernando Alonso says McLaren’s decision to retain Stoffel Vandoorne in Formula 1 next season does not have an impact on his own plans.
Alonso is in the final season of a three-year contract with McLaren, which has been plagued by a lack of reliability and performance, usually emanating from Honda’s difficulties.
Alonso has insisted that he will take his decision in September – a stance he reiterated ahead of the Belgian Grand Prix – and says Vandoorne staying will not influence his approach.
“I will make the decision about my future when I want, and that’s it, it didn’t change anything,” Alonso explained.
“They renewed Stoffel: it’s logic, he’s doing a fantastic job in his rookie season and hopefully he will improve things next year for the team.
“Being more competitive he can show his talent and for the future of McLaren I’m sure Stoffel is a key part, so it’s a normal decision.”
Honda has introduced its ‘Spec 3.5’ power unit for this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, while Vandoorne will run the ‘Spec 3.6’ version, leading to a 35-place grid demotion.
Alonso does not expect the updates to deliver a substantial step forwards, citing the lack of an engine change as reason for his realism.
“It’s a very minor thing, obviously if I don’t change even the engine, it’s the same engine,” he said.
“I don’t have penalties, [as] there’s nothing major you can change in the engine to improve the performance if you expect a bigger step.
“We’ll see, it’s a very difficult race, these two weeks for us, Spa and Monza, that we know in the calendar is the most sensitive power circuits.
“So we know the next two weeks how difficult it will be to score points, so we will have the make a perfect weekend.”
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