McLaren Racing Director Eric Boullier has suggested the British team is now ready to supply Fernando Alonso with the competitive car he craves following the engine deal with Renault.
The Spaniard is still yet to commit to a new contract with McLaren for next year, despite the end of the miserable partnership with Honda and the likely attractiveness of working with the company that he won his two world titles with again.
Alonso revealed he would meet with Renault to gather information on their 2018 engine development before considering all his options on the table but Boullier is confident McLaren and the 36-year-old are both wanting the same thing.
“He is only interested – and he’s been saying this for months – in a competitive car. That is for him,” he said in an interview with the official Formula 1 website.
“McLaren’s DNA is to be competitive – the team has always been in the top three and we belong there again. Today we know that we have a decent chassis, which would allow us to be in the top three again with an equal level engine, so for us, as a business, it is important to be competitive, no matter what role Fernando plays.”
The Frenchman would make it clear that Alonso does still have a significant part to play in McLaren’s bid to return to the front.
“We had to make this decision (switching to Renault) for us but if you want to be competitive you not only need an engine, you also need a driver,” he said. “That is when Fernando comes into the picture.”
Another factor that would determine whether Alonso stays is the state of the relationship between him and McLaren after three tough years, but Boullier brushed aside any thoughts of tension, describing it as “very close”.
“Fernando wants to stay. You can see it in his body language and the way he speaks,” he added. “There are marketing details that have to be sorted out and that Zak [Brown] is working on.”
