Alonso says retirement would be 'very hard' if 2026 car isn't competitive

Fernando Alonso says it would be very hard to retire from Formula One at the end of 2026 if Aston Martin are not competitive next season. The 44-year-old two-time world champion's contract expires at the end of next year, and he has said he has thought about leaving the sport. "If things go well, I think it's a very good moment to stop because I've been chasing a competitive car and competitive racing for many, many years, and if I have that I think it's a very good way to close my career," he said in an Aston Martin interview. "Let's say that if we are competitive, there is more chance that I stop. If we are not competitive, it will be very hard to give up without trying again."

Alonso's career has been defined by a long arc of high performance and fluctuating machinery. He won two world titles with Renault in 2005 and 2006 and has not won a race since Ferrari's victory in the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix. He finished runner-up in the drivers' standings three times in four years for Ferrari, and in 2010 and 2012 missed out on the title by five and four points, respectively. A move to McLaren in 2014 did not pay off as the team faced a difficult spell with Honda engines. He stepped away from Formula One at the end of 2018 to pursue other interests, winning the Le Mans 24 Hours and the World Endurance Championship twice, and competing in the Indianapolis 500 and the Dakar Rally. Alonso returned to Formula One in 2021 with Alpine and moved to Aston Martin in 2023, when the team showed brief moments of competitiveness that yielded six podiums in the first eight races before form tailed off.

Aston Martin are having a difficult 2025 season and sit seventh in the constructors' championship with seven races remaining. Alonso is 14th in the drivers' standings, two points and three places behind team-mate Lance Stroll, despite out-qualifying the Canadian 19 times to one so far. The team owner, Lawrence Stroll, has spent years investing in the project in the hope of turning it into a championship contender.

Next year, Aston Martin will produce its first car under the technical leadership of Adrian Newey, who joined the team in March after resigning from Red Bull in April 2024. Alonso said he has been impressed by Newey, calling him "an incredible person" and adding that everyone in the team is learning from him. "He's an incredible person and everyone in the team is learning from him," Alonso said. He sees 2026 as an opportunity as Formula One introduces new engine and chassis regulations, and he believes Aston Martin have assembled the ingredients needed to win. "I'm pretty convinced about that," he said, "The only thing is when. That's probably my only question mark from this project. In my case, driving in the last couple of years of my career, obviously, I want to taste the success of the Aston Martin project. But I know that everything takes a little bit of time to glue all the pieces together." He added that while he expects Aston Martin to fight for the World Championship in the future, achieving that success will require favorable external factors and luck.