Fernando Alonso’s pursuit of the third world championship which has eluded him for almost 20 years will further extend what is already the longest Formula 1 career of all time.
Soon after starting his second season at Aston Martin he agreed a new deal with the team which will keep him in the cockpit until 2026, when he turns 45 years old.Few drivers in recent decades have raced into their forties. Alonso took the place of another multiple world champion, Sebastian Vettel, who left F1 at the age of 35. But Alonso said yesterday his mind “never went” to the possibility of retirement, and he plans to carry on racing in other series once he leaves the world championship.
“When I stop Formula 1 I will race elsewhere,” he told media including RaceFans. “Maybe Dakar or something like that.
“For me, it’s very difficult to really think about a life without a steering wheel in my hands. That will never happen, or not in the short term. I had 99% confidence that I will keep racing next year, so retirement was not an option.”
When the season began, following the news of Lewis Hamilton’s move from Mercedes to Ferrari at the end of the year, Alonso responded to questions about his future by saying he intended to decide after the opening races. It didn’t take him long to make the decision.
“I needed a few races or a few weeks to really think about myself, if I was ready to commit for more years in Formula 1,” he said. “Because the calendars are just a little bit more intense now. The cars as well.
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“The commitments, my love for Formula 1 and my love for Aston Martin didn’t change. But I just wanted this time to really speak with myself and make the decision and the commitment.
“Obviously Formula 1 takes all time, all your energy. You have to give up basically everything in life to keep racing. And I wanted just to speak with myself if I was ready to do so.”
“Once I took the decision – I think it was after Australia or something like that – I sat with Aston, which again is exactly the same as what I said in February that will be my first priority. And it was not too difficult.
“I think we both wanted the same. I wanted to keep racing with Aston Martin. Aston Martin wanted also to keep me in the seat. So when two parties want something, at one point you reach an agreement.”
Hamilton’s move, and persistent rumours Max Verstappen may cut short his long deal to drive for Red Bull, have created the possibility of widespread disruption on the driver market. But the possibility of Alonso joining Mercedes always seemed remote due to the history between the two, as team principal Toto Wolff said seven years ago.
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Alonso admitted he “did speak with other people as well” but said those talks never looked likely to amount to much.
“It’s normal when you when you enter negotiations, you need to balance a little bit what is the market. You need to listen to everyone else as well. It’s just a normal procedure and I think is fair as well to listen to all the proposals and to see how the market moves.
An “important point” in Alonso’s decision to re-sign for Aston Martin was the longer-team deal they were prepared to offer. “To commit to a one year project didn’t make sense for me,” he said. “It’s not that I had one-year proposal elsewhere or anything like that. It was just I was very clear to Aston in the first conversations that the appealing part of this project is everything that we are building.”
The team is beginning to see the benefits of the investment owner Lawrence Stroll has made to develop their facilities and transform them into championship contenders. Alonso believes that, and the partnerships it has with the likes of Honda and Aramco, stand it in good stead for the future.
“It was the new campus last year, it’s going to be the wind tunnel this year,” he said. “It’s going to be the new regulations in 2026 and Honda coming as a partner.
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“That was for me a must to really enter new regulations with a new project, with a new wind tunnel and also with Honda as a partner. It was something for me that was very, very important.
“Part of the decision to stay at Aston is because they are with Honda. But for 2026 it is [also] because they are with Aramco, the biggest and the best partner in the world. We have incredible talented people in the team now, in the technical side that will benefit from the new wind tunnel and the new facilities in Silverstone. So there were a lot of factors that made ’26 very appealing with Aston and that was a theme.”
“It’s not only ’26, it’s a lifetime project in away for me. This is the longest contract I ever signed in my career. So this is something that will give me a link with Aston for many, many years to come. Let’s see which role, let’s see how many more years I will drive.
“But even after driving I will use 25-plus years experience in Formula 1 plus another 10 or 15 outside Formula 1, so nearly 40 years motorsport experience, in the benefit of a team that gave me this opportunity now in this moment in my career. So this is also very appealing for me and I am extremely motivated for the next years to come.”
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MarcusAurelius (@marcusaurelius)
12th April 2024, 13:49
Normally I don’t like it when old F1 driver keep the seats occupied and prevent drivers like Drugovich or Pourchaire to show what they’re made of. But no such thing with Alonso, he is a joy to watch and hear…
And with Aramco, Honda and their new facilities I wouldn’t be surprised if a championship would be possible.
stefano (@alfa145)
12th April 2024, 13:57
don’t exclude this being a move to leverage a better contract with Red Bull or anyone else, most likely for 2026. I wouldn’t expect such move by anyone else than Alonso
Leroy (@g-funk)
12th April 2024, 14:17
The rumors say he would only agree to a contract with Red Bull if Verstappen wasn’t his teammate. We’ll see how the internal civil war at Red Bull plays out, but I woudn’t hold my breath that Alonso will end up there.
Nick T.
12th April 2024, 23:33
I put the chances of Alonso telling RBR to both sign him AND dump Max at approximately 0.000%. I’d wager he’d race for them for $0 dollars given the chance.
If that is an actual rumor, I’d bet it was started by Max fans when Max started saying things that made it clear he didn’t want Fernando there. I am sure any driver would prefer to have the team to themselves, but no driver would be deluded enough to approach getting a deal at RBR with those demands.
An Sionnach
13th April 2024, 5:27
Hmm… if someone wants to win a championship, it would be better not to have Max as their team mate. Even Max would not win against himself!
Lewis to Ferrari and Alonso with Aston make sense. 2026 is a good opportunity for a championship win if the Ford engine is rubbish. If Lando, Lewis and Alonso are in place in the rival teams, Max might not be able to switch to a better one in 2027, either.
Don’t know why they selected Ford. They were a pain when there was a whiff of controversy and Red Bull values its independence.
NoelyNoel (@noelynoel)
12th April 2024, 13:56
Longest contract ever? So Alonso has never signed an F1 contract longer than two years? Interesting. I don’t know why, but that’s interesting.
Phil Norman (@phil-f1-21)
12th April 2024, 14:23
it’s only a two year extension though I think. Until the end of 2026? So I don’t get the reference to longest contract ever. Unless it has options for more years to be added.
MichaelN
12th April 2024, 15:09
The way he phrases it, it sounds like a 2 year driving deal and a formal relationship that could see him connected to Aston Martin for many more years after that. Understandable for AM to want Alonso to stick around as an ambassador of sorts.
Tifoso1989 (@tifoso1989)
12th April 2024, 16:59
He signed a five-year deal with Ferrari in 2011, although it was an extension to his original contract. The agreement included an escape clause stipulating that if Ferrari wasn’t 3rd in the WCC standings by September of any year, Alonso would be free to leave, something he eventually did in 2014 out of frustration.
MichaelN
12th April 2024, 17:30
It had an escape clause from the start? Mark Hughes’ version of events in 2014 was that Alonso had a contract through 2016, but that in return for no escape clauses he got a higher payout. For Motorsport Magazine he told the story something like this; during the disappointing 2014 season, Alonso wanted to leave his Ferrari contract, if not by 2014 then by 2015 when Hamilton’s Mercedes contract expired, and suggested that Di Montezemolo had, prior to leaving Ferrari, promised Alonso could do so if he wanted. But new team principal Mattiacci was adamant that Alonso had to stay through 2016, and even suggested he should extend beyond that. In a somewhat confusing conclusion, Ferrari then supposedly suggested that if Alonso was not committed they would accept he could leave as soon as by the end of 2014, as they now agreed Di Montezemolo had said. What Alonso did not know, but Mattiacci and Marchionne did, was that Vettel would be a free agent by the end of 2014, owing to performance clauses on his Red Bull contract.
An Sionnach
13th April 2024, 5:36
Glad someone has the sense (and the money!) to be able to afford Alonso long term. Sounds like he’ll be wearing green for years to come, whether it be in a car or behind a desk. It’s hard to picture Alonso sitting still behind a desk for long, though. He’d be out on track in it… and Russell still wouldn’t be able to pass!
Hopefully with the level of investment Aston has they can deplete the likes of Mercedes of key staff… if they have anyone left worth taking.
Nick T.
13th April 2024, 20:07
Russell should just become a steward and finally put his greatest passion as well as skill to best use.
Bullfrog (@bullfrog)
12th April 2024, 21:52
What’s the upper age limit for a super licence? Surely there’s an FIA rule for that.
Nick T.
12th April 2024, 23:39
I doubt. It’s not really something they’d need to worry about and just as likely never crossed their minds in the first for two reasons:
-performance is required to get it or keep it and it’s extremely expensive. So, a retired driver is unlikely to keep paying for it into old age
-they’d never imagine F1 signing a 50+ driver and I doubt that will ever come to pass
There are only about 3 drivers in the world good enough to even stay competitive enough to have a chance at staying in F1 that long as well. Interesting question though. It might also not be possible due discrimination laws.
Doug
13th April 2024, 9:04
Pursuit of a third Championship? More like a pursuit for his first race win since 2013!
Vulture
13th April 2024, 16:45
Great driver, terrible decision maker. Or maybe it’s his management that needs fired. Maybe no other team wanted him. He should have went somewhere else for free.
Nick T.
13th April 2024, 20:15
Copy and pasted from another RF comments section:
The Alonso/bad career decisions trope is totally inaccurate. Let’s look at his decisions one-by-one.
1. Jumps ship from Renault to McLaren at the perfect time
2. Going to Renault wasn’t really a choice. It was a consequence of the 2007 scandal
3. The move to Ferrari was the best one available and it worked decently enough
4. The move back to McLaren was disastrous. He likely wins the WDC the year Vettel kept choking. But most thought the McLaren-Honda combo would be box office
5. Renault-Alpine was his only route back and it was a solid enough platform
6. Ditching Alpine was a fantastic choice and at just the right time despite so many calling it a backward move.
7. Staying there was really the only option on the table currently and I think it has more potential than Mercedes. Toto and Alonso have never gotten along and Merc knows next year is a write off and therefore a perfect time to bring in Kimi. RBR was the only move worth making and Max made it clear he didn’t want a driver of Fernando’s caliber in the team.
So, besides it being criminally unfair that Fernando has gone basically 100 years without a top car, I don’t see what choices he made that were so bad.