Alonso will stay if McLaren wins by September

Fernando Alonso says he will stay at McLaren if it is winning races by September, when he is due to make a decision on his future.

The Spaniard is in the final year of his contract at McLaren, but has not stood on the podium since returning to the team at the start of 2015, largely due to unreliable and often uncompetitive Honda power units. With his future uncertain, Alonso has previously stated he will make a decision on where he will drive next year after the summer break. Asked at Thursday's media briefing ahead of this weekend's Canadian Grand Prix what McLaren needs to do to keep him, Alonso replied: "We have to win.

"If we are winning before September or something like that, I will make a decision and I will stay."

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Alonso was asked about his future following comments from Zak Brown criticizing Honda for failing to deliver a power unit upgrade in time for the Canadian Grand Prix. Speaking to Reuters, Brown called Honda "lost" and said he has "serious concerns" over whether the Japanese manufacturer can turn its fortunes around.

"Missing upgrades, and upgrades not delivering to the level we were told they were going to, you can only take that so long," Brown added. "And we're near our limit."

When Alonso was pushed on whether he will definitely leave McLaren if it does not win by September, the 35-year-old admitted the situation could change.

"You never know. You cannot be 100 percent [sure] now in June about a decision for next year that I don't even start to consider. What we all want is to win and I think related to the answer before, what Zak commented about yesterday and the Honda thing, it is probably what you would expect for Zak to say.

"He wants to win, he wants to put McLaren again in a contender position for the championship, so after three years we are not in that position and things have to change for the team.

"It's the same with me. I want to win and during this project I wanted to be world champion and we are not in that position. So if you don't see things changing and you are not in a competitive position, maybe you change project.

"That's the only thing I can say now until I sit down with myself in September or October – after the summer, as I always said. I cannot say 100 percent about anything now. I'm very open and I will hopefully take the best decision after the summer."

McLaren has yet to score a point so far this season, and is currently bottom of the constructors' championship standings after six races.