McLaren says there are no further plans for Fernando Alonso to test its Formula 1 machinery in 2019.
Alonso stepped away from a race seat at the end of 2018 but remained connected to the team in an ambassadorial role.
He sampled its MCL34 during in-season running in Bahrain, in order to assist McLaren with further understanding of its car, as well as development for 2020.
McLaren confirmed last week that Renault reserve Sergey Sirotkin will also act as back-up to its drivers, stepping into the car in the event of either Lando Norris or Carlos Sainz Jr. being sidelined.
“With all the obligations Fernando is having it is not possible for him to be here at every race and be reserve driver,” confirmed boss Andreas Seidl.
“The focus is clearly on Lando and Carlos. We work closely together in this partnership with Renault… it made sense to have this agreement to share this resource with Renault.
“In case of emergency let’s say a Thursday morning straight away the reserve driver is at the track and that’s why we did this agreement.”
Seidl added that McLaren has “no plans to put Fernando back in the Formula 1 car at McLaren.
“We’re very happy with Lando and Carlos, they’re doing a great job, and they’re the future for us, and that’s also my focus.”
The German, who took up his role at McLaren last month, stressed that Alonso is “still a member of McLaren, an ambassador for McLaren, it’s a discussion what happens in the future [in terms of] the racing projects.”
Alonso competed with McLaren at the Indianapolis 500 but failed to qualify for the race amid a litany of incidents and setbacks for the operation
