Fernando Alonso has said that he will consider making a return to Formula One (F1) in 2021 this summer.
A two-time F1 champion, Alonso won consecutive F1 championships in 2005 and 2006 with Renault. He has 32 victories in an F1 career that kicked off in 2001.
Alonso had earlier on Tuesday announced that he will return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway in May with Arrow McLaren Racing SP to feature in the Indianapolis 500 or better known as Indy 500.
Having made such an announcement, Alonso, who opened up on the possibility of an F1 return, was quick to add that his entire concentration at the moment was solely upon the Indy 500 race.
“In my case, probably during the summer period, I’ll make a decision on 2021 if Formula One is still appealing to me.”
Alonso further said that the new rules which would come into existence from 2021 was a new step in the sport and was looking forward to it.
“The 2021 rules (in F1) are definitely a step forward, and hopefully things can be more mixed and not only three teams capable of winning races. So, all these factors enter into play. I may consider that possibility,” the Spaniard said.
The 38-year-old also said that his return to F1 could not be necessarily linked with McLaren’s performances from last year.
“I don’t think that it’s going to be linked necessarily to McLaren’s performance. I think they did well last year, and hopefully, they make another step forward and close to the top three because they deserve it and are a fantastic team,” he said.
However, in a surprising turn of events, McLaren chief executive Zack Brown had on Tuesday denied any such possibility of Alonso’s return to F1 in the foreseeable future.
In fact, Brown was adamant that he would not risk McLaren’s recent resurge in the motorsport arena which he credits to their new young drivers Lando Norris and Carlos Sainz.
“No. We are in a different place now. That’s not a reflection on him, we have two great young drivers who are really fast that are working well together. The fans like them and we have a rhythm now and would not want to disturb that,” Brown said.
This was Brown’s reply when asked if he would consider taking Alonso back into the side.
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