Fernando Alonso has decided that he’s had enough of the WEC endurance racing series and will leave Toyota after the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in June. Toyota said that Alonso will explore new motorsport adventures within the Toyota Gazoo Racing Family. Alonso said:
“Now is a good time to take on new challenges and there are many interesting opportunities to explore within Toyota Gazoo Racing,” said Alonso.
“We still have two important races remaining as we are still in the fight to become WEC World Champions and I will be pushing hard to win both of them.”
There is no doubt that Alonso is hunting the Triple Crown of Motorsport with his appearance at this year’s Indy 500. The upside of Alonso’s departure from WEC is that Brendon Hartley will replace him at Toyota and that’s good news because Brendon got the short end of the stick in F1 as Toro Rosso dropped him for the 2019 season.
What other series would Alonso be interested in? Rally? Dakar? NASCAR?
Hat Tip: Reuters
NASCAR would be a hard road to hoe, as he discovered earlier this year. I don’t think he’d benefit from making the switch, given J.P. Montoya’s attempt to adapt to the series.
However, given how well he adapted to IndyCar, he’d probably have better luck if he were to commit to a full season.
Just become a hired gun going from big race to big race, Indy 500, Bathurst 1000, Dakar, Daytona 500, Kentucky Derby… His options are limitless.
Just a reminder for those who don’t much follow this series, Le Mans is the end of the season that started at Spa last year. He’s not abandoning mid season or out.
I hope that if McLaren commit to whatever shape future premier class regulations take that Fernando returns with them and wins (hopefully) against more competition so it quietens down those who feel a bit of an asterisk around Toyota’s victory with Alonso.