Alonso hopes to race for many more years: 'My longest F1 contract ever'

The next step in the silly season has been taken: Fernando Alonso has signed a new, multi-year contract with Aston Martin. That means he will continue driving for the Silverstone-based Formula 1 team at least until he turns 45. Speaking to GPblog and others, Alonso explains why he has opted for a multi-year contract.

Alonso: 'That made no sense to me'

The new engine regulations coming into force in 2026 played an important role in Alonso's decision to remain loyal to Aston Martin. "Yeah, it was an important point, I will not lie. To commit to a one-year project...it didn't make sense for me. It's not that I had a one-year proposal elsewhere or anything like that," Alonso explained. This was partly to do with the future partnership with Honda, which the 42-year-old Spaniard described as a "must" for his contract extension.

"It's not only 2026, it's just a lifetime project in a way for me," he added. "This is the longest contract I ever signed in my career. So this is something that will keep me linked with Aston for many, many years to come. Let's see which role, let's see how many more years I will drive. But even after driving, I will use 25 plus years of experience in Formula One, plus another 10 or 15 outside Formula One. So nearly 40 years of motorsport experience in the benefit of a team that gave me this opportunity now in this moment in my career. This is also very appealing for me. I'm extremely motivated for the next years to come."

Alonso hopes to race for many more years

Alonso keeps his cards close to his chest when asked about beyond 2026. "I don't know, I will try for sure. I think it's difficult to really comment on it because I cannot predict when I will stop racing or when I will retire from racing. For sure it's not going to happen in 2025 or 2026 because as I said, I confirmed that one of the motivations was to enter the new regulations and to work with Honda," the two-time world champion states.

"At least two more years," he said about the length of his new contract. He didn't disclose how many years this is. "I will not go into the specifics of how many years, but it's a lot of years to come with Aston and to make some progress in all the areas. When I'm racing, I will do my best to win with this team and to be competitive, but I will feel the same if we can achieve some great things and success even when I'm not driving and I can support the team to achieve great things even in a different role."