Alonso: I do not close any door to anything

The Spaniard's second date at the Indy 500 in May is the final step to joining Graham Hill as the only drivers to complete the Triple Crown of Motorsport. While winning the WEC Championship with Toyota looks increasingly for him.

Beyond 2019, Mundo Deportivo reports that the double F1 World Champion has several options under consideration. Of course, he would countenance a return to the top flight but the 37-year-old is adamant that he will return to F1 only with a top three team capable of providing him with a winning cockpit.

Alas, for well-known reasons, it is unlikely that Red Bull, Ferrari or Mercedes will ever have a place for him, and they are the three teams who will be winning in the foreseeable future.

Thus it is almost certain Alonso will extend his deal with Toyota to remain with them in the WEC and perhaps a guest drive or two in the Super GT.

It is a shrewd move to further align himself to the Japanese auto giant as their vast motorsport programme offers him a host of racing opportunities to exploit.

A double World Champion quitting the pinnacle of the sport in disillusionment only to find redemption with Toyota, in their varied and potent motorsport programme, to prove how good and versatile their products makes perfect marketing sense.

Which prompts reasonable speculation that his association with Toyota could evolve to other disciplines where the organisation has racing interests, including World Rally Championship (WRC), Dakar and NASCAR.

Even before quitting F1 late last year, Alonso verbalised his dream to compete in other racing series' where he could challenge for victory and savour different experiences. His objective was and still is to win all the iconic four-wheel motorsport events, on-track and off-road.

After a toe-dipping exercise with United Autosports at last year's Daytona 24-Hours, Alonso went the whole hog with Wayne Taylor Racing to win this year's edition of the race with Renger Van Der Zande, Jordan Taylor and Kamui Kobayashi.

Shortly after ticking that box, Alonso made it known that the Bathurst 1000 is a race he would like to tackle at some point. His options to take on Mount Panorama would be with the Walkinshaw Andretti United outfit, in which the Asturian's number one fan Zak Brown has shares.

The organisations also have a two-car team in V8 Supercars, another series to pique Alonso's interest, "I talked to Zak, he obviously has a team in Supercars and we talk about these iconic races that might be an interesting day to race, not in the short term, for sure. But I do not close any door to anything."

Meanwhile, reports out of Spain suggest that Alonso might be roped in to test the McLaren MCL34 in Bahrain after the Grand Prix next weekend. Watch this space...