Fernando Alonso ‘is a driver I respect a lot’ says Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, ‘but he is in a contract with McLaren’

Mercedes-GP are considering Fernando Alonso as a replacement for retiring world champion Nico Rosberg.

But two-time championship winner Alonso is about to enter the final year of his three-year deal with McLaren, meaning Mercedes may have to look elsewhere if the double world champion's contract cannot be ended early.

“You have to consider Fernando,” Mercedes chief Toto Wolff told Sky Sports in an interview.

“He is a driver I respect a lot. He combines talent, speed and experience. It’s all there.

“But he is in a contract with McLaren-Honda at the moment and we just need to weigh all the other options up.”

• Jonathan Raymond: Nico Rosberg, Formula One world champion, announces shock retirement

Alonso, the 2005 and 2006 world champion, has had a fruitless time since then trying to add a third championship.

He has been Hamilton’s teammate once before, at McLaren in 2007, in a season in which the pairing proved volatile and led to Alonso leaving the team at the end of the year to return to Renault.

Mercedes face a race against time to bring in a new driver alongside Lewis Hamilton, with pre-season testing due to begin in February.

The team’s non-executive director Niki Lauda said last week that he believed the team would announce a replacement before the end of the year, given the need to get whoever takes the seat familiar with their simulators and chassis, ahead of testing and the opening race of the 2017 season, the Australian Grand Prix, on March 26 in Melbourne.

Rosberg made his surprise announcement last week, just five days after sealing the drivers’ championship after finishing second at the at the Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix at Yas Marina Circuit.

Alonso, four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel and Williams driver Valtteri Bottas have all been strongly linked with filling the void left by Rosberg, but all are under contract for 2017 with other teams.

Mercedes test driver Pascal Wehrlein, 22, who has competed for Manor Racing this season, remains the most realistic option for Wolff.

The Mercedes team principal also said both his drivers will share top billing and there will be no clear No 1, in the same way the team operated with Hamilton and Rosberg over the past four seasons.

“We will maintain the system we have,” Wolff said. “Both drivers will have equal status and equal opportunity to the best of our abilities. We owe it to the fans.

“You can’t have a pecking order.”

* Press Association

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Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme

Priority access to new homes from participating developers
Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
Flexible payment plans from developers
Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates

What is blockchain?

Blockchain is a form of distributed ledger technology, a digital system in which data is recorded across multiple places at the same time. Unlike traditional databases, DLTs have no central administrator or centralised data storage. They are transparent because the data is visible and, because they are automatically replicated and impossible to be tampered with, they are secure.

The main difference between blockchain and other forms of DLT is the way data is stored as ‘blocks’ – new transactions are added to the existing ‘chain’ of past transactions, hence the name ‘blockchain’. It is impossible to delete or modify information on the chain due to the replication of blocks across various locations.

Blockchain is mostly associated with cryptocurrency Bitcoin. Due to the inability to tamper with transactions, advocates say this makes the currency more secure and safer than traditional systems. It is maintained by a network of people referred to as ‘miners’, who receive rewards for solving complex mathematical equations that enable transactions to go through.

However, one of the major problems that has come to light has been the presence of illicit material buried in the Bitcoin blockchain, linking it to the dark web.

Other blockchain platforms can offer things like smart contracts, which are automatically implemented when specific conditions from all interested parties are reached, cutting the time involved and the risk of mistakes. Another use could be storing medical records, as patients can be confident their information cannot be changed. The technology can also be used in supply chains, voting and has the potential to used for storing property records.

Champions parade (UAE timings)

7pm Gates open

8pm Deansgate stage showing starts

9pm Parade starts at Manchester Cathedral

9.45pm Parade ends at Peter Street

10pm City players on stage

11pm event ends