Just a quick post on a new McLaren role for a certain Fernando Alonso.
Alonso has become an ambassador for McLaren and it is planned for him to test the car later in the year. He isn’t participating in the pre-season tests to ensure that the new drivers can familiarise themselves as much as possible with the new car. Very decent of him.
There has been a lot of speculation as to whether this is the Spaniard keeping his options open in case this year’s car is as much of a step forward as McLaren hope – and that has looked the case so far in testing – with a view to maybe worming his way back into a seat in 2020. But this is far from a unique situation. Jenson Button was given an ambassadorial role in 2017 and, beyond PR appearances and so forth, that only amounted to one fill-in drive at Monaco when Alonso decided to swan off to the Indy 500. And it would take either Carlos Sainz or Lando Norris being considerably off the pace for them to bump one of them down at the start of a promising new relationship.
Alonso said the role was ‘a true honour’ and ‘just the beginning’. Whether he’s referring to McLaren or F1 in general, it’s far from the beginning of his story… But if this move keeps one of the sport’s greatest characters in and around the paddock for a bit longer, that can only be seen as a good thing.
