Fernando Alonso claims rivals ‘visited Lawrence Stroll’ over Aston Martin seat

Fernando Alonso has claimed that other drivers on the F1 2026 grid approached Aston Martin executive chairman Lawrence Stroll before opting to re-sign with their current teams for 2027.

As several drivers recently committed to staying with their current teams, Alonso suggested that some had approached Aston Martin amid uncertainty over his own future.

Fernando Alonso in no rush on Aston Martin F1 future

While much of the F1 2027 grid has now fallen into place, there remains uncertainty over the Aston Martin line-up as Alonso continues to ponder whether he will race on in Formula 1 next season.

Having previously teased a decision after the summer break, Alonso was asked in Madrid when we can expect news on his 2027 plans.

“Not soon,” he told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets in Thursday’s FIA press conference.

Asked why the delay, Alonso quipped: “Because I think it’s nice, no?”

Alonso was queried on whether Aston Martin is feeling any sense of impatience over the delay given that some potential alternatives have recently committed to their existing teams.

Recently, Max Verstappen extended his Red Bull contract, while Lando Norris did the same at McLaren. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon also announced that they will remain with Williams for F1 2027.

“Sure, sure. But those drivers, they were visiting Lawrence in the summer, yes,” Alonso teased. “So, no urgency.”

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Alonso and Aston Martin come into the first Madring-hosted Spanish Grand Prix off the back of a challenging race weekend at Monza, one that was expected.

This debuting street track is set to provide the drivers with a serious challenge. Alonso, on home soil, is raring to get out on track, as he revealed the keys to success.

“I expect to be more competitive than Monza in any other circuit in the world, probably,” said Alonso. “But let’s wait and see. I think there are a couple of challenges to discover.

“I think there is a lot of kerb riding, as we saw in the simulator and on the layout, and confirmation from the Formula 3 as well that it was not an easy track.

“The grip level on the asphalt is a question mark, is it going to be grippy or not, track evolution from FP1 to qualifying and the race.

“Normally on a street circuit, there is a huge improvement, so you need to keep up on the pace. Every time you jump in the car, normally the track will be faster than your previous run, and you need to anticipate that from your driver input, but also on the setup directions.

“There are interesting things that will happen on the weekend, and looking forward to it. Especially accumulating laps. I think every street circuit, you need to do as many laps as possible to get that confidence close to the walls and extract the lap time.

“At the same time you have yellow flags, red flags, all these different things happening, and sometimes you are lucky or unlucky if you are on the box or you are out on track.

“We hope for a good weekend, no issues on the car and good reliability and accumulating laps. That will be the key.”

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

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