Fernando Alonso bemoans ‘story of my life’ racing with ‘inferior equipment’

Fernando Alonso has been with Aston Martin since the start of F1 2023
Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso says being left with “inferior” equipment has been the “story of my life.”
It comes after the two-time World Champion admitted that he is likely to retire from Formula 1 at the end of the F1 2026 season.
Fernando Alonso admits ‘inferior’ equipment the ‘story of my life’
The F1 2025 campaign will marks the 20th anniversary of Alonso’s first of his consecutive title triumph with Renault, with a third World Championship eluding the Spaniard for almost two decades.
He also remains without a race win since his penultimate season with Ferrari in 2013.
Alonso came agonisingly close to adding a third title to his collection in both 2010 and 2012, when he narrowly lost out to Sebastian Vettel in a pace-setting Red Bull.
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The Oviedo-born star eventually took a sabbatical at the end of the 2018 season, having grown frustrated with F1 after a bruising spell with McLaren-Honda.
Appearing in a new documentary by DAZN Spain, Alonso admitted that being stuck with inferior equipment has been a theme of his F1 career, forcing him to adapt in order to be competitive.
He said: “Since I was a child, I’ve only had a kart.
“In Asturias it rains a lot [and] when it rained, all the kids put on rain tyres and I raced on dry tyres, because we didn’t have the money to buy rain tyres.
“And that carries over to this day.
“Here we all have the resources for rain tyres, but we don’t have the spoilers that Ferrari has, or the floors that McLaren has, or anything like that.
“It’s been a bit of a story of my life, racing with slightly inferior weapons to the others and adapting to what I could.”
Alonso’s latest comments come after he claimed that he has never had the fastest car throughout his F1 career, with McLaren and Ferrari the quickest during his title-winning years with Renault in 2005 and 2006 respectively.
He told the Chequered Flag podcast: “I never had a good car that I could dominate something, apart from my season in [the] World Endurance Championship with the Toyota that I had the best car.
“That season, I realised how wonderful it could be to have a dominating car in Formula 1 as well, because you could achieve so many results and you can drive as you wish.
“All my career, I’ve been driving cars that they were maybe not the best in that moment, even my two World Championships.
“I think in 2005 the McLaren was the fastest car, but reliability was bad so we compensated with that and we won the championship.
“And then in 2006 they were very, very similar, but I think the Ferrari and Michael [Schumacher] had a little bit too many DNFs, especially in Japan at the end of the year, and then I won the championship.
“So even in my championship seasons, I didn’t have probably the best car.”
Alonso’s went on to reveal that he is likely to retire at the end of F1 2026, by which time he will be 45.
He announced last year that he will remain with Aston Martin for at least the next two seasons, having signed a new multi-year contract.
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Alonso described the 2026 season as “the time of truth” with Aston Martin expecting big things under F1’s new rules following the signing of design legend Adrian Newey from Red Bull.
He said: “Probably – or at least to start with – it will be my last season in Formula 1 because my contract finishes at the end of 2026, so it’s the time of delivering and the time of truth. High expectations.
“I will start the season thinking like that, for sure, because I cannot think too much in the future.
“At the moment, my current contract is for two more years. With my age, my motivation, I don’t know how it’s going to be.
“If the 2026 season is running smoothly and we’re having a good time and there is a possibility to race one more year, I will be open, for sure.
“I will not close the door beforehand, but I will not start [the season] thinking that.
“I will take every race if it was my last race and I will enjoy every second.”
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