Alonso won't quit McLaren, says Massa

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Williams driver Felipe Massa is confident that Fernando Alonso won't walk out of McLaren during the 2017 season.

"I think the first thing to understand is that he has a contract," he told the Brazilian broadcaster Sportv this week.

"If he leaves now, he'll be stuck until next year, and for what?

"He has a huge contract, so he will stay there and fulfil it - although it's true that anything can happen.

"If he's thinking of moving to a competitive team, that's not for this year. Stop in the middle? I don't think so, but as I said, nothing is impossible."

Webber hints Alonso could be about to quit McLaren

Massa's views contrast with those of Mark Webber. The Australian warned this week that Alonso's frustration with the situation at McLaren could see the Spaniard quit the team.

Alonso will be a free agent when his contract expires at the end of 2017. It seems unlikely he'll recommit to McLaren unless significant improvements are made.

Massa himself is just three months older than Alonso. He had expected to watch the 2017 season from the sidelines after deciding to retire at the end of last year.

But with Valtteri Bottas moving to Mercedes, and the new 2017-specification Williams looking competitive, the veteran driver was tempted back for another season working alongside rookie driver Lance Stroll. On his return from Formula 1's shortest-ever retirement, Massa finished in sixth place in Melbourne.

"The result was just great. I was so happy with the whole race," he said afterwards.

"We managed to beat the teams behind us in the right way. This is something we can really think about in terms of working towards the world championship.

"I’m really happy with the result,' he added. "Thanks to the whole team. Not bad for an old boy!"

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.