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F1 is No Longer the Priority: Alonso

Published 10/08/2018, 3:15 AM EDT

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McLaren F1 driver and two-time Formula 1 champion Fernando Alonso is all in — on his World Endurance Championshp effort.

Alonso is 10th in the F1 driver standings, and McLaren is sixth in the Constructors’ Championship — much closer to the bottom than the top of the leaderboards. He has not win in F1 since 2013 and not has so much as a podium since 2014.

Meanwhile Alonso’s WEC team — Toyota Gazoo Racing — won the 24 Hours of Le Mans this summer and is on track to win a season championship.

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So the Spaniard said he is actually prioritizing his World Endurance Championship run now, because: “In one world championship I’m trying to help the team to be sixth, in the other I am fighting to be world champion.

via Imago

“There’s no doubt where my goal is.”

Then there is the lack of action on McLaren’s end, as McLaren has not developed its car since the opening few races of the season.

That is the news from both of the struggling British team’s drivers.

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“We have not had improvements since Spain,” said Alonso said. “We can see in photos and on the track that the rest of the teams in the middle zone bring things race to race and we do not. So the problem is not whether it’s the same car from Sochi or not. Actually, we have the same car from last year — from 12 months ago.”

It’s a similar story for his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who has lost his seat for 2019.

“We did not really develop the car from Barcelona. Until then, we were still a little competitive. It’s no surprise that we have not made progress,” he said.

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Now, the Spaniard is preparing for his final few races in Formula One. He leaves behind an almost two decade long career starting from 2001.

via Imago

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Written by:

Dhruv George

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Dhruv George is a senior Formula One and NASCAR analyst for EssentiallySports, having authored nearly 12000 articles spanning different sports like F1, NASCAR, Tennis, NFL, and eSports. He graduated with a PG Diploma in Journalism from the Xavier Institute of Communications. Dhruv has also conducted interviews with F1 driver Pierre Gasly and Moto2 rider Tony Arbolino.
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