McLaren driver Fernando Alonso’s priority will be Formula 1, and his other pursuits are only a help rather than a distraction, says McLaren chief, Zak Brown.
Due to McLaren’s uncompetitive cars in the last few years, Alonso’s chance of winning another world title has been pretty low.
The Spaniard has often expressed his dream of winning the Triple Crown of motor racing.
He debuted at Indy500 last year and even sampled LMP1 machinery with Toyota, hoping to take part in 2018 Le Mans 24 Hour challenge.
Alonso is also planning to compete in the LMP2 this year at the Daytona 24 Hours with United Autosports, a team co-founded by Brown.
Instead of considering Alonso’s other motor racing plans as a hindrance, Brown insists that the Spaniard is completely focussed on his commitment.
“I like how he just wants to race every weekend, what a lot of people don’t know is he’s racing in a go-kart most weekends he’s not in a Formula 1 car,” Brown said.
“I think the more experience the better, the more driving the better, some people said what about his focus and I say well he’s absolutely 100 percent focused on motor-racing, he’s not out doing other things.
“That’s how it used to be in the Mario Andretti days and it’s great to see Fernando has that kind of attitude.”
As an example of Alonso’s thinking, Brown gave an example of a pre-Daytona test.
“When we tested in Spain, we had a few other cars there, and I asked him if he wanted to drive them,” Brown reflected.
“It was ‘no I’m in LMP2 mode’ and it wasn’t that he didn’t want to drive the cars but ‘I’m here, I have a mission, I have a plan, I’m not going to mess about in other cars I’ll go and play in those another time’.
“That’s the type of mindset he brings when he goes racing, so if he makes a commitment to something else I think he’ll be cautious as to whatever commitments he makes.”
