McLaren has announced Fernando Alonso will retire from Formula One at the end of the 2018 season.

The Spaniard's future in the sport has remained uncertain due to McLaren's inability to give him a race-winning car. Alonso has been racing in the World Endurance Championship alongside his F1 commitments -- winning the Le Mans 24 Hours in June -- and he has openly admitted he would be keen to race at the Indianapolis 500 again.

Alonso has two F1 titles to his name and has finished runner-up on three occasions. He leaves F1 with 32 grand prix victories as well as 97 podium finishes.

Full article here



McLaren will announce Carlos Sainz as Fernando Alonso's replacement later this week, ESPN understands, opening the door for Pierre Gasly to step up to Red Bull next year.

Full article here

Never said retired, just wont race in f1 in 2019, lol. Sad but we knew all that this was going to happen. Will the Mclaren Indy project really go ahead? i remember Mclaren saying that they were fully committed to f1 and getting back up to the top was their priority, so that means if a indycar project was started it would just prove to everyone that their priority was just Alonso not the team. There are so many rumors of who can go where and what in the indycar paddock. If the Mclaren project doesn't start just yet but they still want a working partnership with Andretti, could we see Rossi transferred over to Mclaren and his seat opened for Alonso, just a thought.


__________________________________________________________________________

Retirement is what the BBC and other websites are going with, but yeah, there's nothing stopping him coming back and racing in F1 again another time.

It's a shame to see him leave in one way, but it also makes sense that he at least wants to take a break from F1 after the last few depressing and exhausting seasons suffering from Jacques Villeneuve Syndrome, and concentrate on trying to complete the Triple Crown. I can imagine that if he manages to win the Indy 500 in the next year or two, his interest in F1 will be reignited, as he would consider it unfinished business as well as feeling more fresh again after time away.
He could also use the next year or two to "do a Prost" and manouvre himself into a more competitive seat with a top team behind the scenes for an F1 comeback. But somehow I get the feeling this isn't him leaving F1 for good.

Whatever happens, I think he's had a pretty unforgettable F1 career, as it's been an exceptionally entertaining and polarising one.

---