Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso will not racing in the championship in 2019.
McLaren announced Alonso's decision on Tuesday, mid-way through F1's summer break, with the Spaniard saying he had made his mind up earlier in the year but leaving the door open for a future return.
Alonso has been debating his grand prix future amid frustration over an uncompetitive second spell with McLaren and the monopoly over results by the teams at the front.
He was allowed to miss the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to make his Indianapolis 500 debut, and he challenged for victory in the famous race before retiring.
McLaren said he was not allowed to repeat his Indy bid this season, but did give Alonso permission to combine his F1 efforts with a full World Endurance Championship superseason campaign.
Alonso went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt with Toyota.
With two Monaco GP wins under his belt, Alonso's Le Mans victory leaves just Indy unconquered in his bid for motorsport's unofficial 'triple crown'.
Alonso is extremely unlikely to add to his tally of 32 grand prix victories before the end of the year, and is just three shy of hitting 100 podiums.
But Alonso will surpass Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher in the list of all-time starts as he should end the year with 311 GP starts, which would only be surpassed by Rubens Barrichello (322).
Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001, driving for Minardi, before moving to Benetton as a test driver the following season in preparation for a 2003 race seat as the team morphed into Renault.
He played a key role in helping the French manufacturer to its modern F1 pomp, taking his first win in Hungary that year and then becoming the youngest world champion in 2005.
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Alonso bested Ferrari legend and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher the following season to earn a second consecutive crown.
However, Alonso's F1 career has been on a slope since.
He moved to McLaren for 2007 but that descended into a bitter rivalry with the team's rookie Lewis Hamilton, and after their battle allowed Kimi Raikkonen to steal the title at the final race Alonso went back to an uncompetitive Renault for 2008 and 2009.
Alonso switched to Ferrari for the 2010 season, but his timing was flawed and he spent five years wrestling with cars that were never the peak of the field.
Despite that, Alonso racked up 11 wins with the Scuderia and fought for the 2010 and 2012 titles, with his efforts in 2012 particularly memorable as he valiantly, but fruitlessly, attempted to deny Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.
Alonso finally fell out with Ferrari when it badly misjudged the new-for-2014 V6 turbo-hybrid engine rules and was a distant third-best behind Mercedes and Red Bull.
He switched to McLaren for 2015, tempted by the prospect of restoring the ailing team to its recent former glories with the help of the full power of returning manufacturer Honda.
But the second coming of McLaren-Honda was uncompetitive and unreliable from the beginning and Alonso spent most of the next three seasons dealing with immense frustration, which sometimes spilled out into public digs at the Japanese manufacturer.
McLaren decided to split from Honda at the end of 2017 and agreed a Renault supply, which the team and Alonso expected to facilitate challenges for podiums.
Instead it has been comfortably beaten by Red Bull and Renault's works team, which is only in a rebuilding phase.
Two-time Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso will not racing in the championship in 2019.
McLaren announced Alonso's decision on Tuesday, mid-way through F1's summer break, with the Spaniard saying he had made his mind up earlier in the year but leaving the door open for a future return.
Alonso has been debating his grand prix future amid frustration over an uncompetitive second spell with McLaren and the monopoly over results by the teams at the front.
He was allowed to miss the 2017 Monaco Grand Prix to make his Indianapolis 500 debut, and he challenged for victory in the famous race before retiring.
McLaren said he was not allowed to repeat his Indy bid this season, but did give Alonso permission to combine his F1 efforts with a full World Endurance Championship superseason campaign.
Alonso went on to win the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt with Toyota.
With two Monaco GP wins under his belt, Alonso's Le Mans victory leaves just Indy unconquered in his bid for motorsport's unofficial 'triple crown'.
Alonso is extremely unlikely to add to his tally of 32 grand prix victories before the end of the year, and is just three shy of hitting 100 podiums.
But Alonso will surpass Jenson Button and Michael Schumacher in the list of all-time starts as he should end the year with 311 GP starts, which would only be surpassed by Rubens Barrichello (322).
Alonso made his F1 debut in 2001, driving for Minardi, before moving to Benetton as a test driver the following season in preparation for a 2003 race seat as the team morphed into Renault.
He played a key role in helping the French manufacturer to its modern F1 pomp, taking his first win in Hungary that year and then becoming the youngest world champion in 2005.
Subscribe to Autosport Plus
Premium motorsport journalism in an
ad-free experience.
Subscribe today
Alonso bested Ferrari legend and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher the following season to earn a second consecutive crown.
However, Alonso's F1 career has been on a slope since.
He moved to McLaren for 2007 but that descended into a bitter rivalry with the team's rookie Lewis Hamilton, and after their battle allowed Kimi Raikkonen to steal the title at the final race Alonso went back to an uncompetitive Renault for 2008 and 2009.
Alonso switched to Ferrari for the 2010 season, but his timing was flawed and he spent five years wrestling with cars that were never the peak of the field.
Despite that, Alonso racked up 11 wins with the Scuderia and fought for the 2010 and 2012 titles, with his efforts in 2012 particularly memorable as he valiantly, but fruitlessly, attempted to deny Sebastian Vettel and Red Bull.
Alonso finally fell out with Ferrari when it badly misjudged the new-for-2014 V6 turbo-hybrid engine rules and was a distant third-best behind Mercedes and Red Bull.
He switched to McLaren for 2015, tempted by the prospect of restoring the ailing team to its recent former glories with the help of the full power of returning manufacturer Honda.
But the second coming of McLaren-Honda was uncompetitive and unreliable from the beginning and Alonso spent most of the next three seasons dealing with immense frustration, which sometimes spilled out into public digs at the Japanese manufacturer.
McLaren decided to split from Honda at the end of 2017 and agreed a Renault supply, which the team and Alonso expected to facilitate challenges for podiums.
Instead it has been comfortably beaten by Red Bull and Renault's works team, which is only in a rebuilding phase.
