Alonso denies Honda quit threat

The Spaniard’s current contract runs out at the end of this Formula 1 season, and he has vowed to decide this month whether to stick with his current team or move on elsewhere.

Alonso’s frustrations with the lack of competitiveness of Honda have been clear for some time, and there were rumours ahead of the Italian GP that Alonso had told McLaren he will not sign a new deal if the team does not change engine suppliers next year.

As reported by Motorsport.com earlier this week, the final deadline for engine decisions regarding McLaren and Toro Rosso, which is in talks with Honda, is this weekend.

McLaren is believed to want to end its Honda deal, but the situation is complicated as the Japanese manufacturer does not want to give up on F1.

Responding to suggestions that he told McLaren that, should it be forced to stick with Honda, he would quit, Alonso said no such threat had been made.

“That is absolutely not true,” said Alonso. “I read that this week. I have absolutely not decided and more than anything, I am not bigger than the team.

"There are 1000 people in McLaren, Honda is working for the championship and we know that things are not going in the right direction.

“We are not competitive enough after three years, and we all want to change that situation. But I am one of the 1000 people there and probably the least important one because if I am not here, I will try to sit somewhere else. But for McLaren it is crucial to improve the situation.

“They are the first who want to improve that. The second-best team in history of the sport with numbers, the team that won the most times in Monza, so we are McLaren. We all want the same thing – to be competitive.”

When asked if he believed Honda could be competitive in the short term, he said: “I think you never know. It is the same thing with Ferrari probably in 2014/2015, when they made a huge step in the engine.

“If you get the right direction on the engine, if you make the combustion engine work and everything improves and the results are quickly improved and show, it is something I need to understand.

“What are the developments? What are the next steps for them? They have had the time in the last three years, they have the knowledge of all the experience of the last few years so it could be possible, why not?”

Alonso is convinced McLaren has the possibility to return to championship-winning form, but knows it needs a better engine.

Pushed on what he would do if McLaren stayed with Honda, Alonso said: “We will see. After that statement, I have to sit with McLaren and have to sit with Honda, and see what their expectations are, what are the conditions.

“I probably need to see more in detail, not only in McLaren but also in Japan, flying there, seeing in real in first hand what are the developments and after that making a decision.”

No Renault switch

Alonso has ruled himself out of a switch to the Renault works team, though, which declared this week it was not ready for the Spaniard.

“Renault will always be in my heart, and I have a lot of connections with Renault, even in my go-kart circuit. It is running under the Renault agreements as well in Spain, but in terms of racing so far right now.

“I am extremely happy here and I believe here we could have a package to win a championship.

"And Renault they already said this week that next year they will not be ready yet. So, they are honest as well.”