The speculation surrounding a possible agreement between McLaren driver Fernando Alonso and Toyota Gazoo Racing was up during some good months, as part of the Spaniard’s quest to get the Triple Crown of Motorsport, which was further enhanced after Alonso’s participation in the Rolex 24 at Daytona. The talks were ended this week, as Alonso was integrated to the team in an ambitious program in FIA WEC.
The initial idea was to bring Alonso in for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and maybe the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps to help him in getting the feel of the TS050 Hybrid LMP1, but further talks that involved McLaren secured an improved deal for him, including the other round of the FIA World Endurance Championship which do not conflict with the current Formula 1 season.
In fact, Alonso will be able to join the FIA WEC grid in almost all rounds this year with the exception of the 6 Hours of Fuji, as the home round for Toyota will be held in the same day of the United States GP at the Circuit of the Americas, but it’s understood that there’s the possibility of a date change for the Japanese round, being likely a week earlier than planned as there’s no more changes possible in order to avoid WEC/F1 calendar clashes.
The Spaniard will follow the steps of Nico Hülkenberg, who joined the Porsche LMP1 team to win the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans with Earl Bamber and Nick Tandy while in a full time F1 contract with Force India at the time, though there’s a long time since an active F1 driver had commitments for a season in another competition.
In the No. 8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid, Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima will keep their seats, with the 2009 F1 season being the last time they met Alonso on track in a competitive manner. Star driver Anthony Davidson, who also competed with Alonso in F1, goes away from his full-time seat to a Reserve and Development Driver role, and will get in the No. 7 if Alonso is unable to take part of any rounds.
The No. 7 car sees and unchanged lineup composed by Mike Conway, Kamui Kobayashi and José Maria Lopez.
PHOTO: FIA WEC
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