Aston Martin boss responds to unusual Fernando Alonso retirement comments

Despite the fact that he feels he’s been driving better than at any other point in his career, Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso has suggested that he’d be more inclined to retire from Formula 1 after a strong 2026 season as opposed to a weak one.

For Aston Martin’s CEO and team principal Andy Cowell, that sentiment makes sense — though he did seem hesitant to lose out on the talent provided by the Spaniard’s experience.

Fernando Alonso: Driving better than ever, but retirement on horizon?

In the build-up to the Singapore Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso commented that, if he were to have a strong 2026 season following the introduction of the sport’s new regulations, he’d be more likely to retire from Formula 1 than if he and the team were to struggle.

It’s an interesting comment, particularly for a driver who insisted to media ahead of the Marina Bay race that he’s driving better than ever.

Asked to elaborate on his claim that he could retire after a strong performance in 2026, Alonso replied, “It was an interview of what I will do in 2026, and as I don’t have the crystal ball I gave an answer that it will be forever.

“I think that until May, that’s how I feel right now. If I have a car that I have fun and I do some results with, I think that maybe… I mean, I’ll always discuss with Lawrence and the team what are their needs, and the team will be first and myself second. I don’t need to race now to prove anything.

“I’m happy with my career and I consider myself very lucky to be here for so many years. Now is the moment to help the team and have fun, so that’s something I need to see day by day next year.”

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And part of the reason Alonso is having fun is because he believes he’s performing “better than ever.”

“Last year and this year, probably the car is not where we sit in the standings,” he explained.

“I think we have some issues behind and we’ve been dealing with some weaknesses that I think are not too obvious sometimes from the outside, but I think personally, some of the performance of this year and last year were not possible 20 years ago.

“That’s my opinion, and that’s why I’m relaxed, I’m happy, I’m enjoying, and I’m confident for next year.”

Tasked with elaborating further on how he’s improved throughout the duration of his career, Alonso stated that drivers generally get better with experience; it’s only a loss of motivation or reflex that see them struggle.

“I think drivers, they get better with time, because you get more experience and you get different scenarios that you already experienced in the past, and you can, you know, treat them better,” the two-time champion explained.

“Or you can learn from the mistakes. You know different driving techniques; you drove with many different tire models and tire preparations and all sorts of things, and with the team as well.

“The thing is that with age, you start losing motivation, you start losing the hunger of training every day and go to the factory and jump in the car and perform at your best.

“And that moment didn’t arrive to me, but I think that’s the problem. I don’t think that with age, any driver becomes slower, unless you have a problem of reflexes or vision, something that you are not at your 100%, but at the moment, it seems that didn’t happen.”

For Aston Martin team principal Andy Cowell, that sentiment makes sense. Speaking to media during the Singapore weekend’s team principal press conference, he expressed a desire to retain Alonso but also understood the sentiment behind wanting to retire at his peak.

“I think that’s linked to, you know, we all want to finish on a high,” Cowell said. “So he’d like to finish his driving career winning races, doing well in races. I think that’s what that’s linked to.

“He’s a huge part of the team; really, really useful to have him onboard — and Lance this year and into next year, providing guidance on what’s important for the ’26 car, work in the DiL sim and car configuration work and so on.

“But yeah, I think it comes back to that: last race for Fernando, top step of the podium. That’s what we all dream of.”

Will that top-notch performance be possible next year? Alonso sounds somewhat skeptical that the 2026 regulations will tip the scales in favor of driver skill as opposed to team ingenuity.

“I think it’s always the same thing in Formula 1. Always you have to sell the product for next year and tell that magic things will happen next year,” Alonso said.

“I remember when traction control was banned; it will reward drivers that can control more the throttle and things like that, and then you have a blowing exhaust with 100 points more downforce than anyone else and Red Bull does one-two every race.

“You can be more or less clever driving or whatever, but if the car is a half a second faster, there is nothing can overcome that deficit.

“I’m excited for sure next year, exploring whatever the rules give to the driver — hopefully more than this year, but still, I think too much of automatic deployment and some things that are dictated by the FIA and you cannot play enough. I think there is always a lot of restriction still on the regs last year.”

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