Fernando Alonso has admitted that Aston Martin’s competitiveness once the regulations change in 2026 will determine his future in Formula 1.
Last year, Alonso signed a multi-year contract extension with Aston Martin that will see him compete in the sport until at least the 2026 season.
That said, at 43, and with how the 2025 campaign has started for the two-time F1 champion, speculation is rife about whether next season will be the Spaniard’s last in the sport.
Alonso had to wait nine rounds into the championship to score his maiden points this season on home soil at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, last weekend.
Aston Martin’s dwindling form and his own struggles behind the wheel of the AMR25 have raised question marks around his motivation to compete in F1 beyond his current contract.
But the 43-year-old is adamant that he will observe Adrian Newey’s influence on the team in 2026 before making any decisions.
Newey, who has won a whopping 26 titles across his illustrious career as a designer in F1 with teams like McLaren, Williams and Red Bull, was hired by Lawrence Stroll to spearhead the team’s work on the 2026 regulations.
Having said that, Alonso revealed that while Aston Martin’s competitiveness in 2026 would be crucial to his decision-making, it would not be the final factor.
“It will be a very important one, yes. Not the final one,” Alonso told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think I need to see how next year starts and how motivated I am. Every year, there is a different mood into the season.”
“There is a different feeling on how you perform, how competitive you feel yourself, how motivated you are to keep your fitness at the high level – personal situation, family situation – all these things play a role in some important decisions in life.”
Alonso still motivated to compete in F1
The 2026 season won’t be the first time that Alonso will have to contemplate hanging up his racing helmet in F1.
At the end of the 2018 season, the Spaniard decided to quit the sport after a tumultuous period with McLaren and Honda.
His decision to retire turned into a short-lived sabbatical as he returned to the sport on the cusp of the ground-effects regulations in 2021 with Alpine.
After assessing the Enstone-based team’s competitiveness with the new regulations in 2022, he moved on to Aston Martin from the 2023 season onwards.
Now, into his mid-40s, Alonso is aware that he won’t have the luxury to change his mind again if he decides to step away from the paddock.
“For 40 years, I have had a steering wheel in my hands and I know that one day I will have to stop and that’s an important decision that I will think carefully,” he deliberated.
“I did stop Formula 1 already once in 2018 and I came back because I needed it. So, the next one that I take, it has to be 100 per cent sure.”
As things stand, though, despite having to endure this lean patch with the Silverstone-based team, Alonso is motivated as ever to turn the tide around both, for himself and the team. Moreover, he believes that he is not past his peak and will make the decision to quit when the stopwatch tells him to do so.
“The stopwatch also will tell me one day that I don’t feel fast enough or I don’t feel that I can put the lap together,” he acknowledged.
“But so far, I’m happy with that. I’m happy when I’m on the grid.
“When I finish the race on Sunday, even if the results are not nice at the moment, I’m so motivated to go to the next race and try to overcome the bad race and have a better one.”
READ MORE — Why Fernando Alonso is having to get ‘inventive’ to mask Aston Martin F1 weakness
