Fernando Alonso will be staying put at McLaren in 2017, despite the lure of a vacant seat at champions Mercedes next year, insists the Spaniard's long-time manager Flavio Briatore.
Alonso signed a three-year deal with McLaren in 2015, meaning he has one year left on his deal. However that hasn't stopped the speculation that the two-time champion could replace the retired Nico Rosberg.
Mercedes chief Toto Wolff didn't help matters when he said the team "must consider" Alonso as a potential replacement, before adding that he didn't want to get involved in a messy fight over contracts.
Briatore, who has been a part of Alonso's management team for many years, insists Alonso will respect his McLaren contract and won't be moving.
"How is it, whenever a seat becomes free, Fernando is always mentioned?," he told Gazzetta dello Sport. "There is a contract [with McLaren] and we respect it."
Alonso isn't new to breaking out of his contract though, and did so with Ferrari two years early in order to join McLaren, but that, according to Briatore, was under different circumstances.
"The situation was different and we had an agreement with [then Ferrari president Luca di] Montezemolo," explained Briatore.
"If we didn't win the title in 2014, he would be free. Luca kept that promise."
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