Fernando Alonso is certain that Aston Martin will succeed in the future, but he doesn’t know when it will be, as he says F1 2026 won’t be cakewalk straightaway.
When Alonso joined the Aston Martin project, he took the vision into his stride and committed for another deal despite the 40-year-age marker. It was certain that it will take years for the team to materialise whatever they had planned, especially in terms of infrastructure.
And it took few years to be ready now, right on time for the big overhaul in 2026. They couldn’t reap the benefit of it in designing or preparing the 2025 car, but they have everything in place for next season. It includes personnel, with the hiring of design guru Adrian Newey.
In addition, they already had Andy Cowell and Enrico Cardlie in key positions, with Mike Krack and andy Stevenson in operational side. The last remaining puzzle was securing a works team deal with Honda and Alonso’s presence didn’t turn the Japanese manufacturer away.
They will have a proven power unit albeit with changes as per the 2026 power regulations. With everything in places, the optimism at Aston Martin is high for next season, but Alonso is cautious. The Spaniard is not saying that the team will not succeed in the future.
He thinks they will, but the timing is not certain. He reckons they will need a year to get everything sorted and for the whole team to function properly in unity. “Yes, I think so [I still have faith in the project],” said Alonso to media. “The factory is completed, the wind tunnel is brand new and completed.
“We are using it. We have Adrian Newey, Andy Cowell, Enrico Cardile. We have great people and great talent in the factory. We just need to put everything in place and make sure that all those facilities are new. People are just a few months into the system. It will be enough these few months.
“We need one full season to glue everything together. That’s the thing. Aston Martin will succeed. For me, it’s a guarantee. The biggest question is when. That’s what we all try to do, to make it as soon as possible,” summed up Alonso, who will enter his 23rd season in F1 in 2026.
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