Fernando Alonso is remaining open-minded about his Formula 1 seat in 2023 but Alpine is his “priority”.
On Thursday, the driver market was shaken up by Sebastian Vettel announcing his retirement at the end of the season, opening up a spot at Aston Martin.
Earlier in the year, Alonso had been mentioned as one of team owner Lawrence Stroll’s preferred choices if the four-time world champion decided to leave.
And the Spaniard, who was expected to renew at Alpine before the Vettel news, was diplomatic when asked about his future.
“From the beginning of the summer break, it will be the point I need to sit down and conclude something,” Alonso said via Motorsport Week. “The summer break starts on Monday.
Also Read:
“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.”
Alpine too has a dilemma with junior driver Oscar Piastri currently sitting on the sidelines.
Alonso is out of contract but has clearly been their faster driver in 2022 while teammate Esteban Ocon is under contract until 2024.
Another factor in talks is Le Mans, with CEO Laurent Rossi confirming the two-time winner of the endurance race will “always have a seat” in their WEC outfit when he decides to leave F1.
That moment though still seems some way off for Alonso, who is the oldest driver on the driver and turns 41 on Friday.
“I think I am fresh here [in F1], very motivated,” he said. “I’m looking forward so much into next year, what the second year of these rules will bring.
“We race in Las Vegas, we race maybe in South Africa. All these things 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 per cent.
“Now even thinking about sportscars or IndyCar it’s like ‘not now’. My head is completely ‘remove this’ and stay focused on F1.”