Alonso making a mistake combining F1 and endurance – Webber

Mark Webber believes it would be a “mistake” if Fernando Alonso attempted to combine his 2018 campaign with a dual Formula 1 and World Endurance Championship focus and feels the two-time F1 world champion must concentrate on one.

Alonso, who is taking part in his maiden Daytona 24 hour race this month with United Autosports, is tipped to be a part of the Toyota WEC driver line-up this year as he targets a debut at Le Mans in June. While Webber doesn’t doubt Alonso’s talent he fears the Spaniard won’t be able to be fully committed to either championship and has urged him to focus on either an F1 title challenge or Le Mans.

McLaren is set to begin its new engine partnership with Renault this season, with Alonso eager to lead the team’s charge back to the sharp end of the F1 grid, while he’s also focusing on the prestigious Triple Crown – victories at the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans and Indianapolis 500 – with his Daytona 24 hour outing this month acting as vital preparation for Le Mans.

“It's a mistake,” Webber, who spent three years in WEC with Porsche after retiring from F1 in 2013, told Italian publication Automoto. “They are two totally different things that both absorb a lot of mental energy. I think if you're doing F1 you can't afford distractions - it is so specific that it doesn't allow room.

“If he wins it would be amazing. He's a driver with talent unlike almost anyone else in the world. It would be fantastic, but it will not give him anything.”

Alonso ended test qualifying 12^th fastest at the Roar before the 24 last weekend for United Autosports with the Daytona 24 hour race scheduled for the 27th-28th January. Alonso will then return to European ahead of F1 pre-season testing in Barcelona which begins on the 26^th February.