The 2018 season will be the two-time champion’s last as a Formula 1 driver, his team McLaren has announced. The Spaniard, who expressed his gratitude, is tipped to race in the Indianapolis 500 next year.The 37-year-old driver was reportedly disenchanted with how his F1 McLaren team has fallen out of pace with some of its rivals. This season is the Spaniard’s 17th F1 season, and his fifth with the British team.
“After 17 wonderful years in this amazing sport, it’s time for me to make a change and move on,” Alonso said. The two-time champion, that ended Michael Schumacher’s five-title streak in 2005, has tweeted a video talking about his F1 career, saying that the changes he experienced along the years were “sometimes good, and sometimes, in my opinion, bad.”
“There is a time for everyone to make a change and Fernando has decided the end of this season to be his,” McLaren said in a statement, adding that the team “respects his decision.”
Fernando Alonso’s career has included 32 wins, 22 pole positions and 97 podiums so far.
ftm/jt (Reuters/AP)
