Alonso sets deadline for F1 retirement decision

Fernando Alonso has set a deadline on his F1 future by which point he needs to decide whether he wants to continue next season.

The two-time F1 world champion is in the final year of his existing deal and has set a summer deadline when it comes to his future.

Fernando Alonso sets Aston Martin future deadline

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Alonso is the most experienced F1 driver with well over 400 race starts in a career that began in 2001.

Twice a world champion, the Spaniard has been one of the most prominent figures in the sport throughout the past 25 years.

Set to turn 45 later this year, Alonso insists yet to make a decision as to whether he continues next season.

“I didn’t start yet to think about the future,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media in Miami.

“I had conversations with Lawrence [Stroll, Aston Martin team owner] and the team.

“We met in Monaco this last weekend as well and we had a nice dinner together, but we never discuss deeply the future.

“We are aligned on everything,” he added. “We are a team, but we are talking more about the present, than the future.

“But I know at one point this year, around summertime, or right after summer, I need to make a decision.”

Alonso joined Aston Martin for the 2023 season, arriving as the squad stepped up its transformation from what was Force India and Racing Point.

That has seen significant investment made in new facilities at the squad’s Silverstone base, the arrival of Honda as a factory power unit supplier this year, and Adrian Newey joining as a shareholder in the operation.

It gives the team all the core ingredients for success, once they have blended together fully – a process that remains ongoing.

Time is not something Alonso has an abundance of, especially given he harbours other racing ambitions away from F1.

Those will play a part in his decision about a new deal, but he suggests it’s not something he’s considered deeply at this stage.

So too is the way in which he departs, with the two-time world champion mindful about leaving following a difficult season.

“Leaving the sport with a bad taste, it’s not always the best thing. But these things you cannot choose,” Alonso said.

“But I’m very relaxed. I’m very happy with my career, I’m very happy with what I was able to live and to experience and what the sport gave me.

“This is a gift, since I came back in 2021.

“It’s been a gift, racing and to feel competitive.

“I also want to leave the sport one day when I feel fast. I don’t want to leave the sport when I’ve been beaten by everyone and I feel slow, and I make mistakes and all these kinds of things.”

More on Fernando Alonso

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A motivating factor to continue is the promise of improved car performance next year.

F1 2026 marks Aston Martin’s first as Honda’s factory team, with the early part of the season blighted by teething issues.

The Japanese manufacturer powered Red Bull to world championships under the previous regulations, creating high expectations of its potential, once on top of the current gripes.

“If I continue racing, I think it will be a better season that this one with the project in year two,” Alonso noted.

“If I stop racing, I know that I will race in other series.

“As I said many times, Dakar will be a possibility; one day I can win in endurance racing, Formula 1, and rally cross country.

“That will be probably unprecedented and then that’s something that is very appealing.”

During the April break, Alonso also drove an Aston Martin Valkyrie, an experience that could prove enough to tempt him back to Le Mans.

“When I stop Formula 1, I will keep racing somehow,” he declared.

“I will still link with the team in a different role in the future, so either way, I’m relaxed.

“I will be active, in a way, when I stop.”

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