Fernando Alonso has committed his future to Ferrari after McLaren confirmed interest

Fernando Alonso has committed his future to Ferrari in the wake of McLaren boss Martin Whitmarsh confirming he wanted to re-sign the Spaniard.

But despite first making a public commitment to Ferrari ahead of the Italian GP, speculation that Alonso's relationship at Maranello may not continue until the end of 2016 has continued to fester - particularly after the team last week confirmed Raikkonen would be returning to the team. Those rumours were fuelled by Whitmarsh's remarks to Sky Sports News in Singapore on Friday morning - although the McLaren chief added the caveat that he "expected" the team to retain both Button and Sergio Perez for 2014. But Whitmarsh's clear admission that he would be open to Alonso returning to Woking, despite the two parties' acrimonious parting six years ago, nonetheless has continued to provoke much paddock debate over McLaren's longer-term driver targets. "We can read it many ways," mused Sky Sports F1's Ted Kravitz. "Can we read this that Martin Whitmarsh is trying to destabilise Ferrari, one of his competitors. "Okay, maybe they're not fighting wheel-to-wheel on the track at the moment, but they are one of his close competitors. But destabilise them by telling the likes of us, and therefore the general watching public, that Fernando Alonso might be available, that it's even a possibility that he could even leave Ferrari and drive for McLaren. "So while I don't think we're talking about 2014, I think what Whitmarsh is coming out and saying is that McLaren is a place where top drivers might still want to come - and that's important considering the year McLaren have had - and also that Fernando Alonso and perhaps his management have had discussions with other teams, opening up the possibility that Alonso might want to leave Ferrari sooner than his current contract dictates." Sky F1 expert Mark Hughes agreed that if McLaren were to make a concerted push to re-sign Alonso then 2015, when Honda return to provide their engines, would be the most likely target.

Alonso McLaren eh? Think 2015. But interesting McLaren's putting it out there.

- Mark Hughes (@SportmphMark) September 20, 2013