Fernando Alonso says his belief that he is still fast enough to outperform other Formula 1 drivers was one of the decisive reasons behind his choice to continue with Aston Martin in 2027. After reflecting on the future of both the team and Formula 1, the Spaniard realised that his competitive instinct remains too strong to walk away.
A five-minute conversation with Lawrence Stroll was ultimately enough to confirm the continuation of the partnership. Alonso believes he still has the internal “fire” required to compete at the highest level and hopes 2027 can provide a very different experience after a difficult season for Aston Martin and Honda.
Fernando Alonso needed five minutes to settle his Aston Martin future
After taking time to consider where the Aston Martin project and Formula 1 were heading, Fernando Alonso did not need long to decide which path he wanted to follow. The attraction of the highest level of motorsport remained too powerful, but above all he retained confidence that he still had the desire to fight.
The decision had been expected for some time. Although the formal announcement only arrived at the end of September, Aston Martin had remained relatively relaxed behind the scenes. Had Alonso genuinely intended to retire, the Silverstone team would have needed to enter the driver market, while extensions involving the other realistic candidates had already been completed much earlier.
The Spaniard will therefore add at least another season to his career, taking his Formula 1 involvement to 24 seasons.
“I made the decision fairly recently and, yes, sitting down to talk with Lawrence was very straightforward,” Fernando Alonso said at Sepang. “We didn’t have much to discuss. At that moment we both wanted to continue. It was a five-minute conversation and then we announced it.”
Once Alonso had decided that he wanted to stay, the meeting with Lawrence Stroll was therefore little more than a formality.
“Well, it wasn’t about family duties, but more about the way I understand life and motorsport. My wife is very supportive of me, and this year she is suffering too and worries about my health when we’re not competitive!” Fernando Alonso joked.
“As long as I have that fire inside, it’s not time to stop”
Fernando Alonso had not hidden his doubts about his future during recent months. Part of his evaluation involved waiting to understand Honda’s progress with its power-unit development, while another concerned Formula 1’s technical regulations.
Alonso has never been particularly enthusiastic about the current technical cycle and has openly hoped that Formula 1 would introduce deeper changes than those already announced.
Over the coming years, the balance between the internal combustion engine and electrical energy is expected to move towards 60-40 in two stages. The split is set at 58-42 for 2027 before another step follows the year after.
Nothing has changed from the plan announced several months ago, but one factor ultimately outweighed Alonso’s concerns when he considered whether to renew: he still feels the competitive fire inside him and has no desire to extinguish it.
“I have no guarantees that 2027 will be more enjoyable, but it’s a commitment you have to make with yourself,” Fernando Alonso explained. “At the end of the day, I feel fast, I feel motivated and I feel that I enjoy what I’m doing. If I were at home watching TV and the races, I’d feel I could do better than them.”
Alonso remembers the feeling that brought him back to Formula 1
Fernando Alonso has experienced that feeling before. After leaving Formula 1 at the end of 2018, he went on to compete successfully in the World Endurance Championship with Toyota and also took on the Dakar Rally before eventually returning to Formula 1 full-time with Alpine in 2021.
The same competitive instinct that encouraged him to return then remains present now.
“That’s what I felt, in a way, when I was away from F1 and watching the races,” Fernando Alonso said. “I thought: ‘Damn, this one and that one aren’t doing it right.’ I always felt that fire inside to be there and try to do better. I still feel it now and I told myself: you know, as long as I have that fire inside, I don’t think it’s time to stop.”
Sepang concerns underline Alonso’s frustration with current F1 rules
Alonso’s hopes for 2027 do not mean his concerns about Formula 1’s current technical direction have disappeared. Even if the fundamental regulations remain unchanged, he hopes manufacturers can find further compromises that make the cars behave in a more natural way for the drivers.
Progress has already been made since the beginning of the season, while further changes planned for 2027 and 2028 should help move the cars in that direction.
Those concerns are particularly relevant at Sepang, a circuit combining slow and fast corners with several consecutive straights. Similar fears surrounded Canada, where consecutive flat-out sections threatened to place heavy demands on the power unit, although the straights there were shorter and the lap offered more braking and energy-recovery opportunities.
According to Fernando Alonso, Sepang presents a more difficult energy-management equation.
“We arrive at an incredible circuit, but it will be sad in the middle sector because we won’t be able to use the battery there,” Fernando Alonso said. “If you do, then you won’t have any [battery] left for the three consecutive straights from Turn 15 to the final corner, from the final corner to Turn 1 and from Turn 1 to Turn 3.”
“You have to use the full battery charge on those three straights, so everything else is just about recharging it. These are the problems we are facing now in terms of taking the cars to the limit of grip. But I decided that maybe next year, with the 60-40 ratio and with the second year of these regulations, perhaps there will be a slightly better compromise in this area.”
The unusual Malaysian event forms part of the revised 2026 Formula 1 calendar, with Sepang hosting the Bahrain Grand Prix between the Azerbaijan and Singapore rounds.
Fernando Alonso gives Aston Martin and Honda one more opportunity
Alonso hopes the experience accumulated during the current season, together with the planned regulatory adjustments that should reduce aerodynamic load and ease demands on the power unit, will improve the situation.
At the same time, the Spaniard wants to give Aston Martin’s ambitious project another opportunity. After the considerable investment made behind the scenes, Alonso is prepared to commit for another season in the hope that the work finally produces stronger results.
Honda is a particularly important part of that calculation. The power-unit partnership began with significant difficulties, leaving uncertainty over how much progress can be made before next season.
“I told myself: let’s do it one more time, let’s give it another opportunity,” Fernando Alonso said. “Especially on the power-unit side, we started on the wrong foot and it’s a question mark what will happen next year. But yes, I think they deserve another opportunity and I still feel fast.”
For Fernando Alonso, that feeling remains the decisive factor. As long as he believes he still has the speed, motivation and desire to perform better than the drivers he would otherwise be watching from home, retirement can wait.
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