Fernando Alonso says as long as he feels competitive in the F1 car, he will continue racing, as he feels they will miss the last generation of cars in 2026.
He is the oldest driver on the F1 grid being 44-years-old, with only Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton close to him at 40-years. They will both turn 45-years and 41-years – respectively – by the end of the year, nearing the time of retirement. In fact, the new regulation will make or break their decision.
If there is a scope of a competitive run, they may extend but if things look dire, they may call it quits, either after 2026 or at least by the end of 2027. For Alonso, this has been a second coming and all his hopes were pinned on the new regulations and the steps taken by Aston Martin.
The team has done everything in their capacity in terms of hiring personnel, creating infrastructure and even becoming a works team with Honda. It is all on how it is executed and how it translates on the track. Alonso feels good and optimistic and as long as the car is competitive, he will continue.
“Difficult to know your own performance — if it has changed somehow, if you are better or worse — as long as you don’t have a competitive car and environment that, probably wakes up your feelings and your competitive spirit,” said Alonso. “That is a little bit not ready now, when you are not fighting for big things.
“But 2023 was a good example of that — when the car was up there in the podiums. So yeah, I have self-confidence. I have a lot of trust in the team that next year we can put things right and fight for something more important. And, yeah, as long as I feel competitive and I feel fast, motivated and physically at the level, I will keep racing,” summed up Alonso.
The regulation gone by was one of the hard cycle that the Spaniard had to go through. Not just in terms of results, but also body wise considering the amount of bouncing and stiffness of the car. Everyone on the grid, whether young or old, faced difficulties fitness wise.
Alonso will not miss the cars, but he feels there will be nostalgia considering the new generation of cars is going to be slower to start off. He feels it will get better as the years go by. “I will not miss the previous generation of cars, I think,” he continued. “But I think in 2026, probably, we will go slower, and we will miss them when we drive the new cars because we always want to be as fast as possible.
“I think the cars gone by were definitely too heavy. They were too big. And the ground effect and the ride heights — we were racing in a way that was not really fun to drive and probably not even to follow cars. The expectations of the previous regulation, that it was to follow closely and to have better action on track, was not really a success. Maybe the first year a little bit, but not after that. So, yeah, I don’t think we will miss too much,” summed up Alonso.
Here’s Fernando Alonso on Max Verstappen
Here’s Fernando Alonso on changed stance on team principal