Fernando Alonso says he is "very open to anything" when considering where he will be driving in 2018, though his main priority is finding a car which can help him win a third world championship.
Alonso is in the final year of his McLaren contract but his spell at the team has been a disastrous one, with the team struggling ever since it switched to Honda power in 2015. The Spaniard is missing the Monaco Grand Prix this year to contest the Indy 500 in a McLaren-Honda entry, which some have interpreted as a sweetener from the team to convince Alonso to extend his contract.
Though Alonso is refusing to dwell on his future until the summer break in August he says McLaren and Honda's form and rate of improvement until then will have a big impact on his decision.
"My intention, or my first priority is to race here, but not only to race, I want to win," Alonso said. "Now I don't have any more obligations with McLaren, I'm happy with the team but we are not winning. So if from here to September, October, I see there's a possibility to win in 2018 I will be more than happy to stay with the team. If it's not the case, I would be more than happy to talk to anyone."
With the challenge of his first Indy 500 on the horizon, Alonso says sorting his future is not currently high on his agenda.
"This is my last year with the contract I have now with McLaren so I will have to think a little bit, after the summer, because it's now quite a busy period and the Indy 500 will not be the time to think any further than this summer. But around September, October I need to consider what I will do next year and if it's time to find other challenges outside Formula One or if in Formula One there will be an opportunity to win the championship, which is my main goal. So I'm very open to anything."
Though the Spaniard hints at considering challenges away from Formula One, he suggests the new generation of cars will be enough to keep him around.
"I think with this year's cars and the 2017 regulations the cars are good to drive. I think Formula One is back, in a way, we can see this real power and efficiency, corner speed, things we were missing a bit in the last couple of years. The cars look nice from the outside with the big tyres and everything so I like this Formula One."