When it comes to Spain and Formula 1, the first name that comes to mind is Fernando Alonso. He has been a central figure in the sport for nearly 24 years, and with the new regulations set for 2026, speculation about his future is growing. Next year, Alonso will turn 45, raising the question: will he still be behind the wheel?
A happy career and an unsure future
Fernando Alonso has yet to determine his retirement date. As he stated, if he has a good car and still feels the enjoyment of racing, he’ll discuss both their interests with Lawrence and Aston Martin. But for now, the Spaniard is happy with his F1 path, as he sees himself as a very lucky driver for still being behind the wheel.
“It was an interview of what I will do in 2026 and as I don’t have the crystal ball I gave an answer that it will be forever I think until May 10th season for next year, you know, that’s my feeling now if I have a car that I have fun and I do get some results I think I will discuss always with Lawrence and with the team what are their needs and team will be first and myself second”.
“I don’t need to race now to prove anything. I’m happy with my career and I consider myself very lucky to be here for so many years and now is a moment to help the team and to have fun so that’s something that I need to see day by day next year”.
Confidence for next year
Fernando Alonso noted that the results in the standings over the past two seasons do not fully reflect the car’s true potential. He explained that Aston Martin has been managing internal challenges and certain weaknesses that are often not visible from the outside.
He also pointed out that some of the performance achieved in recent years would have been nearly impossible to accomplish two decades ago. Despite this, Alonso remains calm and satisfied, enjoying the process and looking ahead to the next season with optimism and confidence.
“Last year and this year probably the car is not where we see in the standings. I think we have some issues behind and we’ve been dealing with some weaknesses that I think are not too obvious sometimes from the outside but I think personally some of the performance of this year and last year I think were not possible 20 years ago. That’s my opinion and that’s why I’m relaxed, I’m happy, I’m enjoying and I’m confident for next year”
Is there really magic from one season to the other?
Alonso reflected on the recurring narrative in Formula 1, where every year teams promote the idea that “magic” will happen next season. He recalled the era when traction control was banned, noting that drivers who could better manage the throttle were rewarded, until innovations like Red Bull’s blown exhaust gave them a significant advantage, making their cars around a second faster and allowing them to dominate races. The 44-year-old driver emphasized that no matter how skilled a driver is, a car with a half-second advantage is unbeatable.
Looking ahead, he expressed excitement for the next season, eager to explore whatever freedoms the regulations allow. However, he noted that there are still many automatic systems and subtle regulatory constraints enforced by the FIA that limit what drivers can do, meaning restrictions will remain significant in the coming year.
“I think it’s always the same thing in Formula 1, always you have to sell the product for next year and tell that magic things will happen next year. I remember when traction control was banned, you will reward drivers that can control more the throttle and things like that and then you have a blowing exhaust with 100 points more downforce than anyone else and Red Bull does 1-2 every race. You can be more or less clever driving or whatever but if the car is half a second faster there is nothing that can overcome that deficit”.
“I’m excited for sure, next year exploring whatever the rules give to the driver, hopefully more than this year but still I think too much of automatic deployment and soft things that are detected by FIA and you cannot play enough. So I think there is always a lot of restriction still on the regs for next year”.
Experience is key
Fernando Alonso explained that drivers improve over time, gaining experience from a variety of scenarios that help them handle situations better and learn from past mistakes. He pointed out that exposure to different driving techniques, tire models, and team dynamics naturally enhances a driver’s skills.
However, he also noted that with age, motivation can wane, along with the daily drive to train and perform at one’s best in the car. Alonso emphasized that he hasn’t experienced this decline and believes that age alone doesn’t make a driver slower, only issues with reflexes or vision can affect performance, and so far, he hasn’t encountered that.
“I think drivers they get better with time because you get more experience and you get different scenarios that you already experienced in the past and you can treat them better or you can learn from the mistakes and you know different driving techniques you drove with many different tyre models and tyre preparations and all sorts of things and with the team as well”.
“The thing is that with age you start losing motivation, you start losing the hunger of training every day and go to the factory and jump in the car and perform at your best and at the moment that didn’t arrive to me but I think that’s the problem. I don’t think with age any driver became slower unless you have a problem of reflexes or vision or something that you are not at your 100% but at the moment it seems that didn’t happen”.
