Alpine’s Fernando Alonso is keen to stay in Formula 1 with the team next season, but he willing to listen to other offers.
The Spaniard is out of contract at the end of the current season, and no deal has yet been reached for him to continue despite his impressive performances.
The 41-year-old has been in the points in 23 of the 34 races he has contested since his return with the French side at the start of last season, and his podium in Qatar last year might not have been his only one had luck gone his way this year.
Renault CEO Luca de Meo has given no guarantees about the future of the driver who won his two championships with the Enstone-based team under its Renault guise in 2005 and 2006 as the team continue to weigh up their options, which include reserve driver and Formula 2 champion Oscar Piastri.
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Further, Sebastian Vettel’s impending retirement has opened the door at Aston Martin, but Alpine have patently been a better team this year and last, so the Spaniard would prefer to stay where he is by signing a new deal.
“From the beginning of the summer break, it will be the point I need to sit down and conclude something, the summer break starts on Monday,” explained Alonso.
“All the teams are an option as long as they don’t have two drivers signed, my priority is to be with Alpine.
“We’ve been working and developing this project together for two years now, we are more and more competitive.
“Probably my wish is to stay, but we didn’t sit down completely and move forward with things so still everything is ongoing.”
Alonso has proven since his return after a two-year sabbatical that age is just a number, and he is excited for what next year will bring, with new and returning circuits on the horizon, as well as significant evolution of the cars under the new technical regulations.
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“I think I am fresh here, very motivated, I’m looking forward so much into next year, what the second year of these rules will bring,” added Alonso.
“We race in Las Vegas, we race maybe in South Africa – all these things, they are very appealing.
“I feel very fast this year, last year was a struggle a little bit but this year I feel at my 100 percent.”
For that reason, thoughts of other racing series would only serve as intrusive ones for Alonso at this stage.
“Now even thinking about sportscars or IndyCar it’s like ‘not now’, my head is completely ‘remove this’ and stay focused on F1,” he asserted.
Alonso’s P6 in France, coupled with team-mate Esteban Ocon’s eighth-placed finish, moved Alpine ahead of McLaren and into fourth in the Constructors’ Standings heading into the Hungarian Grand Prix this weekend.