Another piece of the F1 driver lineup fell into place today. Fernando Alonso extended his contract with Aston-Martin until at least 2026. A post on Twitter summed it up succinctly.
This wasn’t too surprising because after arriving at Aston-Martin last year, Alonso has performed superbly. Despite being in his early forties, he grabbed multiple podiums and was incredibly competitive during the first third of the season. He has found a team that he works well with and that can provide him competitive machinery too. Plus, he has a teammate who isn’t going to challenge him on or off the track. Fernando is in a good place during the twilight of his career.
This move was also making a virtue out of necessity. His signing shows that neither Mercedes-AMG nor Red Bull Racing are interested in him. McLaren has their lineup set, so does Ferrari for that matter. Aston-Martin was his best option, so he took it. He may not be in a position to win races this year or even next year but he might fancy his chances in 2026 when the new regulations arrive.
Evidently both Alonso and Honda have patched things up, meaning that both will be reunited. Alonso must think that the 2026 Honda engine will be competitive when they switch from Red Bull to Aston-Martin. Plus, Honda thinks that enough time has passed to reboot a relationship that ended badly at McLaren. If nothing else there is hope, leavened with the wisdom that comes with age.
I think Alonso will remain competitive in the near-term and go off into retirement as an Aston-Martin brand ambassador. He may well race their hypercar in WEC too, but that’s years down the road. For now, he can perform his best for a team that appreciates him and is building the capabilities to do even better soon. There have been rumors that Adrian Newey has been targeted as well as other key personnel from the other teams. Lawrence Stroll and his Saudi backers are doing all they can to make Aston-Martin a top-tier team.
As for results, I would expect occasional podiums and regular points finishes. Unless something major changes though, I don’t expect Alonso will be competing for wins or poles except during unusual circumstances. He’ll be ferocious in both attack and defense but for the most part, he will be behind Red Bull and Ferrari in most races. It will be a somewhat sad swansong for a driver many considered to be the best of his generation, one of the best of all time.
What could have been…
