Alonso to sign £25million deal

Fernando Alonso is set to sign the biggest deal in the history of Formula One.

According to reports in his native Spain, Spanish newspaper AS has been quoted by Sky Sports as reporting that Alonso will make the expected move to McLaren and has agreed a deal which will prove to be ?the largest in the history of Formula 1 and presented as a multi-year agreement’.

Whilst Alonso himself insisted that his future would not be revealed before the 2014 Formula One World Championship season finale in Abu Dhabi, the Spanish newspaper has stated that Alonso’s estimated salary of £25million will be a binding two-year contract with an option for a third season.

The reason why the multi-year aspect of the deal is so crucial is because it is thought that the former double F1 World Champion wanted to sign a deal for a single season to enable him to make a swift move to Mercedes in 2016 if that opportunity arose.

However McLaren and partners Honda did not want to see their coveted marquee signing jump ship after 12 months and so insisted on a multi-year contract and appear happy to pay a bumper deal for that privilege.

It is thought that Kevin Magnussen will partner Alonso at McLaren.

Performance wise, both for now and in years to come the decision between the two drivers was pretty even. But throw in the financial aspect and keeping Magnussen would prove to be the cheaper option and one that McLaren appears to prefer.

The news leaves 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button on the brink of being forced out of the sport and into early retirement from F1.