Fernando Alonso refuses to confirm stay with Formula One team Alpine – ‘Never a guarantee’

Fernando Alonso could not commit to staying with Alpine next season.

Speculation of late has suggested that the experienced Spaniard will stay on for another season with the French team.

However 40-year-old Alonso is not certain that he will remain with Alpine, despite outscoring teammate Esteban Ocon in the 2021 season.

“It’s never a guarantee that you will stay,” Alonso said.

“We have to agree on something, I think, over the break [in August]. In the next weeks or whenever, I will sit down with the team and see what are their expectations. “Also, what is the next step on the project, as well? “I feel happy, I feel at home in Alpine, but there is no guarantee of anything, for sure.”

Joint fourth in the season’s constructors’ championship, Alonso was realistic about the team’s future.

“I don’t think it’s going to be that easy for us [to catch Mercedes],” he said. “They have a huge organisation, and we knew that they would come back sooner or later.

“For us, it’s a more medium/long-term programme. It’s a matter of starting next year’s car soon enough that we don’t compromise the next project.

“The big teams can start next year’s car, and at the same time keep improving this year’s car. “For other teams, this is more of a challenge.”