Fernando Alonso has revealed that he contemplated two main factors before deciding to sign a brand-new contract extension with the Aston Martin Formula 1 team.
Aston Martin has announced that Alonso will continue to race for the British marque into F1’s regulation reset coming in 2026 with the signing of a multi-term deal.
The Spaniard has conceded that he was unsure about remaining in the sport amid the sport’s increase to a 24-race calendar placing added strain on those involved.
Alonso, who disclosed his relatives will attend more events, admits he used the opening rounds to gauge whether he is prepared to put up with the non-racing duties.
Asked about when he knew he wanted to continue racing in F1, Alonso told media including Motorsport Week: “I had a few things [to assess].
“First of all, it was not a racing factor. It was more the travelling, to be honest.
“Looking at this calendar, I was a little bit afraid that this will be heavy on me. There are all the commitments pre-season with all the photoshoot and media shot and car launch.
“All these kinds of things are quite demanding in terms of energy for drivers in general, and for me, particularly in this part of my career.
“So, I said, let me go through that tough period, that I call it at the beginning of the year of marketing and media and things like that, and then that tough period of travelling, time zones, big planes and these kinds of things. If I feel that I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, I think it’s better to not keep racing.
“If I go through that period of the year, and I love racing, and all the rest is not heavy on me, I want to continue, why not?
“And that was the first thing that I wanted to clarify with myself in the first couple of races.
Alonso also disclosed that he was eager to see the competitive position Aston Martin was in during the nascent stages of 2024 as he chases an elusive third F1 title.
The Silverstone-based squad had delivered a car that Alonso drove to six podiums in the first eight races last season but regressed to fifth place in the championship.
While it maintains that same position after four races in the current campaign, Alonso has drawn encouragement from the aggressive development plan its adopted.
“Then second, obviously, I wanted to see how we perform,” he continued.
“You know, there is no guarantee that if I feel good, and I stay with Aston, that things are not going right, we have a car that is difficult to drive, we are not competitive, I see no progress in the team, I see some negative sides, maybe a look elsewhere.
“But to be honest, yeah, we didn’t to start on the podium position, yes, okay, but I think we are very close, the top four teams, apart of Red Bull.
“There is going to be some races that we are more competitive, some races that we are less.
“But also in the first four races we introduced four new parts of the car. Every race, we had an upgrade. So this is something that was quite encouraging and quite nice to see.
“So I think the team is doing progress. It’s never quick enough in Formula 1, it is a very demanding sport, very demanding environment.
“But 18 months ago, 22 months ago, we have a very small building ex-Jordan in the factory. And now we are half a tenth up and down with Ferrari, with Mercedes, with top teams.
“So this kind of progress is really what I think in this project is Oh, the ambition of this project is is just something else. So I want to be part of it.”
Alonso has conceded he held tentative discussions with other F1 teams prior to renewing with Aston Martin and has declared that retirement was not a serious option.
“I think it never went to my mind retirement,” he clarified. “Above of all, I think when I stopped Formula 1, I will race elsewhere, maybe Dakar or something like that.
“So for me, it’s very difficult to really think about a life without a steering wheel on my hands, that will never happen or not in a short term.
“But no, I think I had 99 per cent confidence that I will keep racing next year. So retirement was not an option.”
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