Spanish former F1 driver Pedro de la Rosa knows Fernando Alonso very well and inevitably regrets his countryman’s current difficult period at McLaren. The Spaniard, who raced for Arrows, Jaguar, McLaren, BMW and HRT also enjoyed a role as test driver for the Maranello team where he worked alongside the two-time world champion. De la Rosa admitted that Fernando Alonso’s options for the 2018 Formula One season are limited, and does not know if a return to Maranello would be possible after his relationship with the Scuderia ended in a bitter at the end of the 2014 season:
“I am nobody to judge, but what I can say is that he had to leave Ferrari. That he should then go to McLaren, I cannot judge, but living what I lived in Ferrari it was impossible for both parties. I have no idea where Fernando can go and if Ferrari is an option. I think it’s early to think about it and I still see Fernando Alonso focused on the McLaren-Honda project.” – Pedro de la Rosa explained, as reported by Spanish AS newspaper on Saturday.
Regarding the topic of McLaren, the former Formula 1 driver adds that the only thing which has survived the winds of change at the team is the name: “I don’t know the current McLaren very much. There are still fantastic people and I still have friends, but 80pc of the people with whom I had the privilege of working at McLaren are now at Mercedes or Red Bull or Ferrari. The McLaren today with Honda, I cannot say anything because I do not know anyone, but the only thing that remains is the name.”
Asked to comment on whether Fernando Alonso had made a huge mistake by joining McLaren back in 2015, de la Rosa said it wasn’t for him to decide if is so: “That is a question only he can answer, and knowing him, some day he will.”
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