Fernando Alonso has admitted that he is prepared to commit to Formula 1 in the circumstance where he believes that winning races again becomes attainable.
The Spaniard has not stood on the top step of the podium in F1 since triumphing in his home grand prix almost 11 years ago when he was still racing for Ferrari.
Despite Alonso’s switch to Aston Martin last term coinciding with the team emerging as a podium contender, Red Bull’s dominance prevented him from winning.
The Silverstone-based squad’s competitiveness nosedived as the campaign progressed and it has begun the latest season as the fifth fastest team in race trim.
Alonso, who has a contract through 2024, claimed that Aston Martin remained his priority, but he also left the door open to replacing Lewis Hamilton at Mercedes.
But amid Red Bull’s continued pre-eminence and the expansion of the F1 calendar to 24 races this term, Alonso concedes he must consider his future in the series.
Asked if he believes he’s on the German marque’s list of potential replacements, he said: “Yes, because, obviously, I don’t have any contract at the moment.
“So, it’s better to be on those lists than in the other series list or being on the retirement. But I will make the decision to commit for the future in the next few weeks or few races.
“First of all, I need to speak with myself, I need to make a decision. If I personally want to commit for the future.
“Obviously, I need to sacrifice everything else in life to be 100% ready for F1. And that will be the decision.”
When the prospect of having a one-season agreement with Mercedes was proposed to him, Alonso reiterated that continuing in F1 was not a foregone conclusion.
“First of all, I need to see if I want to keep racing as I said I will,” he repeated. “I will be [an] egoist, if I’m just thinking of renewing a contract and just being a Formula One driver, travel around the world, feel cool. But I’m not that type of person, if I commit it’s because I truly believe that there is a possibility of winning races.
“I want to be in the simulator, I want to be with the engineers, I want to ask 100% to an organisation that I know for sure that I will give that 100%. If not, I will not commit.
“I don’t know for how long, I don’t know with whom. So, there are many question marks. But this is a second stage. First stage of the future it has to be with my own personal decision.”
Despite continuing to reign supreme with Red Bull, Max Verstappen has been linked with a move amid the fallout from the investigation into team boss Christian Horner.
Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff, who was pictured talking with Max’s father Jos in Bahrain, has professed that he would “love” to prize the Dutchman from Red Bull.
Asked if he could see Verstappen embarking upon a shock switch, Alonso answered: “Difficult to comment from the outside, obviously, I read as well some rumours.
“But there were so many rumours in the last two or three months that it’s difficult to believe all of them. So, it’s more a question for Max.”
Verstappen has opened the latest campaign with a brace of comfortable victories, taking him to 19 wins from the last 20 races and on course for a fourth straight title.
Pressed on how he retains the motivation to compete when the chances of winning are slim, Alonso stressed that remaining upbeat is the first step to positive change.
“It’s the same as everybody, only Max Verstappen can say that, for the rest of the drivers here and the teams, we are trying to be in that position,” Alonso added.
“And to be in that position, there is no extra performance to be upset, there is no extra performance to be sad, there is no extra performance to do nothing else than keep working and keep understanding the car, keep motivating everyone in the company to find more performance. And trust in the people that you work with.”
The brand could be the psycho-spiritual prototype for future intergalactic commerce between empathic species.