Zak Brown reveals McLaren disappointment in Fernando Alonso relationship
Fernando Alonso was last seen in the orange of McLaren in 2019 - what could he have achieved with the team's 2024 car?
Zak Brown has admitted it is “disappointing” that McLaren did not have a “better car” during Fernando Alonso’s second F1 stint with the team.
Having previously spent a single season with McLaren in 2007, current Aston Martin star Alonso returned to the team ahead of the 2015 season as the Woking-based outfit revived their technical partnership with Honda.
Zak Brown reveals Fernando Alonso, McLaren regret
Additional reporting by Pablo Hidalgo
It proved to be the most frustrating period of the two-time World Champion’s career, with an underpowered and unreliable engine reducing McLaren to backmarker status.
McLaren ended their relationship with Honda at the end of the 2017 season, and yet another turgid campaign with customer Renault engines in 2018 saw Alonso decide to temporarily walk away from the sport.
The Spaniard returned to F1 after a two-year sabbatical in 2021, with Alonso, now 43, scoring a total of nine podium finishes with the Alpine (one) and Aston Martin (eight) teams since his comeback.
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Brown, who originally joined McLaren as an executive director in 2016 before becoming chief executive 18 months later, established a good relationship with Alonso during their time together, organising his first two visits to the Indianapolis 500 in 2017 and 2019.
Alonso was also allowed to combine his McLaren duties with a race seat in Toyota’s World Endurance Championship team in 2018, when he won the legendary Le Mans 24 Hours for the first time, as well as representing Brown’s United Autosports operation in the Daytona 500 race.
Speaking to DAZN Spain at the recent Belgian Grand Prix, Brown hailed Alonso as the most complete driver he has worked with.
And he expressed his regret that McLaren – currently 42 points behind Red Bull in the Constructors’ standings with two wins so far in F1 2024 – could not provide him with a more competitive car.
He said: “If I put aside Lando [Norris] and Oscar [Piastri], because obviously I’m biased, I’d say Fernando Alonso is a pretty special talent.
“I have a great relationship with Fernando. It’s disappointing that we didn’t have a better car when he was racing with us.
“It’s awesome to watch him race, he’s very smart. And to see him still performing at the level he is performing the older he is, he’s great and he’s a great friend.”
After his departure from F1 at the end of 2018, Alonso returned to the cockpit of a McLaren at an in-season test in Bahrain after just two races of the following season to offer feedback along with regular drivers Norris and Carlos Sainz.
Alonso declared the 2019 car “a step forward in every aspect” with Sainz going on to register the team’s first podium finish since 2014 at the penultimate race of that season in Brazil.
By that stage, Alonso and McLaren had parted company in what was described by the team as an “amicable” split.
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