» Alonso’s hands full with plenty of racing

McLaren’s Fernando Alonso has commenced his year of double duties this week starting the second leg of his nine events in eleven weekends.

The Spaniard, now in his eighteenth year of Formula 1, has signed on with Toyota this year to race in the 2018-19 FIA World Endurance Championship ‘super season’. He will race alongside former Toro Rosso driver Sébastien Buemi and former Williams talent Kazuki Nakajima in the #8 Toyota TS050 Hybrid LMP1 entry.

The upcoming World Endurance Championship season takes place as the FIA and WEC organisers agreed on making the famous Le Mans 24 Hours the final race of the season from 2019. This decision therefore means that this year’s one-off season will feature eight rounds of racing across fourteen months for Alonso and the rest of the 107 drivers.

Alonso’s move comes after McLaren’s decision to split with former engine supplier and Toyota rival Honda, following the Woking squad’s nightmare three-year stint with the Japanese engine builder.

Although some have argued that his work outside of Formula 1 may hinder his performance at McLaren, the CEO of the Woking-based team Zak Brown has supported his intentions by helping Alonso race at last year’s Indianapolis 500 and February’s Rolex 24 at Daytona with his United Autosport team.

Alonso’s seat at Toyota provides him with the best chance to further his ambitions to claim a ‘Triple Crown’ by adding to his two Formula 1 World Championship titles with victory at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Toyota TS050 is the only hybrid entry this season – following Porsche and Audi’s respective decisions to end their LMP1 campaigns – which will give the Japanese outfit a clear shot at finally winning at the Circuit de La Sarthe.

Alonso’s busy schedule
Date	Event	Location
27-29 Apr 2018	Azerbaijan Formula 1 Grand Prix	Baku City Circuit, Azerbaijan
03-05 May 2018	FIA WEC 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps	Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
11-13 May 2018	Spanish Formula 1 Grand Prix	Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Spain
25-27 May 2018	Monaco Formula 1 Grand Prix	Circuit de Monaco, Monaco
08-10 Jun 2018	Canadian Formula 1 Grand Prix	Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Canada
13-17 Jun 2018	FIA WEC 24 Hours of Le Mans	Circuit de la Sarthe, France
22-24 Jun 2018	French Formula 1 Grand Prix	Circuit Paul Ricard, France
29-01 Jul 2018	Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix	Red Bull Ring, Austria
06-08 Jul 2018	British Formula 1 Grand Prix	Silverstone Circuit, United Kingdom