(Motorsport-Total.com) – Fernando Alonso has still not made his decision about a possible continuation of his Formula 1 career at Aston Martin. The Spaniard had actually announced that he wanted to create clarity around the summer break. Now it turns out: there is no concrete schedule.
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“I don’t have one,” Alonso answers when asked when he wants to make his decision. The two-time world champion has just returned from vacation and first wants to exchange views with the people responsible in his team. In the coming weeks, talks with team owner Lawrence Stroll and Aston Martin partner Adrian Newey are on the agenda.
“Lawrence is coming this weekend, so I will have a nice lunch or coffee with him,” Alonso says. A visit to the factory is also planned, including simulator work in Madrid. If Stroll or Newey are there, he wants to sit down with them.
A decision could therefore be made in the coming weeks – but a later date is not excluded for Alonso either. “Maybe in the next few weeks,” he says. “Or months.”
Alonso wants to talk to Stroll and Newey about his role
What is especially interesting is that Alonso does not make his future solely dependent on whether he actually sits in the cockpit in 2027 or beyond. The Spaniard already sees himself as a long-term part of the Aston Martin project – regardless of his specific function.
“I have said it many times: the rules are what they are,” Alonso explains. The current Formula 1 cars do not necessarily give him the greatest driving pleasure. Nevertheless, Formula 1 is inseparably connected to his life. “My heart is here,” emphasizes the 45-year-old. And even more importantly: “I will be with this team in some role in the long term.”
With this, Alonso makes it clear that his relationship with Aston Martin could go far beyond his active career. He can apparently imagine staying with the team even after retiring from active racing. According to Alonso, what role that could be depends on the needs of the racing team. That is exactly what he wants to discuss with Stroll and Newey.
“It’s not about whether I drive next year or for another three years,” Alonso says. “If I can be more valuable in another position, I will consider that. And I would also be happy about that.”
“I have to drive something”: Alonso wants to continue racing
Alonso cannot imagine his future without racing. The Spaniard makes it unmistakably clear that a complete withdrawal is currently not an option for him. “But I have to drive something. That is certain,” he says. “I have to race. I have to feel the adrenaline. I am a competitor.”
Alonso already has new goals in mind. A third Formula 1 world championship is still the ultimate dream for him, while racing outside the top class also appeals to him. “I have, as I have said many times, all these challenges in mind,” he explains.
These include a win at the Dakar Rally as well as another attempt at the Indianapolis 500. Alonso is thus already thinking beyond his Formula 1 career. At the same time, he has not given up his biggest dream yet: the third world title.
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“Winning a third world championship in Formula 1 would of course also be the ultimate dream,” he says. The problem: Alonso himself does not know whether Aston Martin will be fast enough to make this dream come true.
Alonso: “It will take very long”
Despite all confidence in the Aston Martin project, Alonso makes a remarkably sober assessment of the team’s sporting prospects. The question is not whether he personally still believes in a world championship title. The question is how long Aston Martin will need to reach the necessary level at all.
“Is it possible? I don’t know how long it will take to achieve this performance for this team,” Alonso explains. His answer is sobering: “It will take very long.”
This statement is especially interesting because Aston Martin has hired Adrian Newey, one of the most successful technical minds in Formula 1 history, and has set big goals for the coming years. But Alonso makes it clear that a single star developer is no guarantee for quick success.
Building a real championship team takes time. And exactly this time could become the decisive factor for Alonso’s own future. “Maybe I won’t be behind the wheel then,” the Spaniard admits. But even in that case, he wants to remain part of the project.
Age is not an argument for Alonso
A central question in Alonso’s future decision is his age. At 45, he is by far the oldest driver in the current Formula 1 field. Alonso himself does not see this as a fundamental problem. “That is the normal trend,” he says about the view of many sports journalists.
There is a certain age at which an athlete reaches his peak, then performance declines. But this principle cannot simply be applied to Formula 1. “This is not football, not athletics, not the NBA,” Alonso emphasizes.
As an example, he cites the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix. The conditions were extremely demanding at that time. Many drivers were physically exhausted after the race. “Everyone was half dead in parc fermé and I was completely fine,” Alonso recalls. He then still did the interviews in the TV pen.
Alonso therefore sees the decisive factor not in his physical condition but in his motivation. “Age is not a problem,” he says. What is decisive is rather “the motivation, the fun, and what can still be achieved.”
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