{"id":19574,"date":"2013-10-13T17:06:24","date_gmt":"2013-10-13T21:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/?p=19574"},"modified":"2013-10-13T17:06:24","modified_gmt":"2013-10-13T21:06:24","slug":"honda-would-like-alonso-at-mclaren-whitmarsh","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/formula-1\/honda-would-like-alonso-at-mclaren-whitmarsh\/","title":{"rendered":"Honda ‘would like Alonso at McLaren’ – Whitmarsh"},"content":{"rendered":"

Martin Whitmarsh has admitted Honda would like Fernando Alonso to be powered by its Japanese engines in 2015.<\/p>\n

\"Martin-Whitmarsh-1\"The McLaren boss had triggered the Alonso-to-Woking rumours recently in Singapore, amid suggestions the Spaniard is increasingly unhappy at Ferrari.<\/p>\n

“He has a contract with Ferrari,” Whitmarsh told the Spanish sports newspaper AS at Suzuka.\u00a0 “In the future, who knows.”<\/p>\n

He admitted letting Alonso leave McLaren after just one season in 2007 was a mistake.<\/p>\n

“I’ve always regretting losing him in 2007,” said Whitmarsh.\u00a0 “He is now a mature and very strong driver.\u00a0 Yes, it was (a mistake).”<\/p>\n

Undoubtedly, Whitmarsh is trying to right the wrong now.\u00a0 He also says Honda, the Woking based team’s new V6 engine supplier for 2015 and beyond, is keen.<\/p>\n

“I am sure they are,” he said.\u00a0 “Honda would like to have Alonso at McLaren, but McLaren would really like to have Fernando at McLaren.<\/p>\n

“But to be clear, we have not had any negotiations with him.\u00a0 Fernando has a contract with Ferrari.”<\/p>\n

Whitmarsh, however, said Alonso has been targeted because he is perhaps the best driver in F1.<\/p>\n

“Although this may seem unfair to Ferrari, he gets more from what the car deserves.<\/p>\n

“Sebastian (Vettel) is also doing a great job.\u00a0 They are both top drivers.\u00a0 But Sebastian has always been in a stronger car.”<\/p>\n

Asked his opinion about why Red Bull has dominated so much in recent years, Whitmarsh answered: “First you would have to say that Red Bull spends a lot of money.\u00a0 It’s a very important factor.<\/p>\n

“Besides that, they are doing a great job.\u00a0 Adrian (Newey) is key, but Sebastian is very consistent and I think he should get a bit more credit.”<\/p>\n

Britain’s Mirror newspaper on Sunday said Jenson Button has agreed just a one-year deal to stay at McLaren in 2014.<\/p>\n

It leaves the door slightly ajar for Alonso to join the Briton next year, in Mexican Sergio Perez’s place.<\/p>\n

“This year was not as good as Sergio wanted it to be.\u00a0 But beating Jenson Button is not so easy.<\/p>\n

“Unfortunately the car hasn’t been as good as we would like, so we shouldn’t be too hard on the drivers.\u00a0 Has Jenson done a good job this year?\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Has Sergio done a good job?\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n

“Has Sergio done everything he wanted?\u00a0 No, but he is giving everything he can to become a stronger driver.”<\/p>\n

Finally, Whitmarsh did not completely deny speculation linking McLaren with Mercedes’ Ross Brawn.<\/p>\n

“At the moment, I don’t think so,” said the Briton when asked if Brawn is heading to Woking.<\/p>\n

“I’ve known Ross for 20 years, I get along with him, but I don’t see Ross (coming) here now.<\/p>\n

“He is very experienced and is a major asset for any team, but right now I don’t think he is thinking of coming to McLaren,” added Whitmarsh.<\/p>\n

\u00a9 RIF | GMM<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Martin Whitmarsh has admitted Honda would like Fernando Alonso to be powered by its Japanese engines in 2015. The McLaren boss had triggered the Alonso-to-Woking rumours recently in Singapore, amid suggestions the Spaniard is increasingly unhappy at Ferrari. “He has a contract with Ferrari,” Whitmarsh told the Spanish sports newspaper AS at Suzuka.\u00a0 “In the …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[2120,3],"tags":[5262,149,5340,153,491,5284,4374,35],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19574"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19575,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19574\/revisions\/19575"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19574"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19574"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.racinginfocus.com\/rif\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19574"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}