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Fernando Alonso is in the middle of a fourth disappointing season for an underperforming Mclaren team. He is unhappy with the car, and pretty much everything else surrounding the team, so speculation had been rife regarding his future, and whether or not it would involve an 18th season in F1.
He took some time off to win the Le Mans 24 hours earlier on in the season and it is no secret that he wishes to win the Indy 500, to complete Motorsport's Triple Crown (having won the Monaco GP in 2006 and 2007). There were rumors that he would abandon F1 for the IndyCar series to further his attempts at the 500, but it was also completely possible that he might stay in F1 for one final shot at the title (however unlikely that might be).
But with Red Bull seemingly ruling him out of replacing Daniel Ricciardo and Ferrari looking increasingly likely to stick with Kimi Raikkonen or Charles Leclerc alongside Sebastian Vettel he may not have had a seat outside of a struggling McLaren.
On August 11 he tweeted a countdown timer pointing to the 14th as the day of a huge announcement regarding his future, and we now have it. Fernando Alonso will not race in F1 in 2019.
In the above video, he talks about how he has loved his time in F1, through the good and bad, the successes and the failures, and that it will always hold a special place in his heart. He simply felt like the time had come for him to take on new challenges.
It is unclear as of now exactly what he will be doing next year, but it looks likely that he will take up a competitive seat in IndyCar. His retirement throws the cat among the pigeons in terms of the driver market, with Mclaren now having two possible seats to offer, with Stoffel Vandoorne's place unassured at the minute.
Either way, F1 waves goodbye to one of the all-time greats, who challenges Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel as the greatest drivers in the field. At least he gets to go out on his own terms.
