A nightmare season started
Fernando Alonso at 45 years old is the veteran of Formula One drivers but as is well known he always races with the enthusiasm and tenacity of when he won his two world titles in 2005 and 2006. Many expected that the Aston Martin-Honda-Newey project could have been winning already from this 2026 season, giving Fernando if not the chance to fight for the title at least some chances of stage wins. As is well known, this was not the case and the AMR26 immediately proved to be a slow car, difficult to drive, overweight and underpowered.
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The first updates introduced in Hungary at the aerodynamic level and then in the Netherlands at the engine level have instilled some hope also thanks to the ninth place finish obtained by the indomitable Fernando at Zandvoort who, precisely in these months, is considering whether to extend his collaboration with Aston Martin also for the coming seasons. The Spanish driver gave his point of view on the technical situation of his team, Formula 1 and clarified if needed that he is still determined to stay in the category.
Fernando scored two points at Zandvoort thanks to the ninth place finish. A boost of confidence for the technical development path taken by the team?
“Obviously no one can be happy with a ninth place and I think no one in the team is happy, but it was a nice boost for everyone to know that at least the direction we are taking is the right one because we changed many things on the car since Budapest and obviously we know or feel that in corners we are going much better, so this gives hope to everyone at Silverstone that if we continue with this philosophy, this strategy and this development pace, in the end we will be among the fastest in corners, so we only take one of the boxes.
Then, regarding the engine, I think the version introduced at Zandvoort was not a big improvement, to be honest, drivability was a problem and the extra power was hard to feel at Zandvoort, maybe Monza will be a real test for the engine, but there is still a long way to go and we have to improve on both fronts, chassis and engine, for next year and it is a must, so this is the most important aspect for my decision [to stay ed.], as I said it is not so much about the car. I will be professional and work 100% fighting for P15 or for a podium, but for me it is more about the regulations, unfortunately it is so. This is not the Formula 1 we grew up with and this is not the Formula 1 that all of us want, drivers, spectators, so we have to change some things, it will not happen immediately, it will happen in the future but I hope to be able to contribute somehow to the next set of regulations, to get back to the real Formula 1.”
What would happen if Aston Martin offered you more opportunities to race in other forms of motorsport? At Le Mans for example?
“I think that door is not closed, as we saw with Lance, who participated in the GT3 race, and I know there will be other GT3 races, in Portimão and other places where I have been invited, but at the moment it is not my priority, there is the Valkyrie program at Le Mans and there are other opportunities, but now my main goal is F1 and this will not change anything.”
Do you still believe Honda will return to the levels of success of the partnership with Red Bull?
“100%, I believe it is a great commitment from Honda, the facilities we have in Japan are among the best, I believe the staff and the management of the power unit have been strengthened, as Honda said, and all the people who were in the previous project are again involved in this, so I have no doubts and I trust Honda 100%, we just have to shorten this process somehow, unfortunately we started on the wrong foot and we started with this set of regulations not at the level we wanted, but I have no doubts that they will get there and as I have said many times, we don’t want to wait five or six years like Honda did last time, we want to do it in two years or at most three years.”
How long do you think you can maintain this motivation?
“Never give up, I think I can do it until 80 or 90 years old (laughs).”
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