McLaren likely won't be talking about its 2019 driver line-up - and about the future of Fernando Alonso in particular - before F1's summer break says Zak Brown.
Alonso's future is up in there and has led to the rumor mill spinning silly stories of the Spaniard's return to Ferrari, Renault and even filling a seat at Haas.
The McLaren star's demeanor of late suggests he is perhaps growing frustrated with his F1 trials and tribulations. While the Woking-based outfit's performance was upgraded this season following the switch to Renault power, the team's results have still fallen short of expectations, with Alonso racing at a fair distance from the sport's front-runners.
Brown's presence this weekend at Detroit's IndyCar round and the executive's openly expressed ambition of getting McLaren involved in the series on a full-time basis have naturally led to the prospect of Alonso leaving F1 for the US next season.
Brown insists however that talks about the team's 2019 line-up won't start in earnest until the end of July.
"I think our situation is the same as everyone’s," said the McLaren boss.
"It’s a little early in the season. Of course, we’re all talking to our drivers, probably talking to each other’s drivers to a certain extent up and down the pit lane.
"I think that we’re now back in Europe, it’s usually around the summer time that things start really taking shape as far as our conversations with Fernando.
"Just like last year, we decided to wait until about the summer time and I think Fernando will let us know what he wants to do here pretty soon."
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