Fernando Alonso hints at F1 exits despite confirming Aston Martin commitment

Fernando Alonso has confirmed his commitment to the Aston Martin Formula 1 team, but left the door open to exiting the championship at the end of his current contract. 

The two-time F1 champion will be out of contract at the end of the current season, and whether he will remain with Aston Martin, move to Alpine for a fourth time, or retire has been a topic of much debate.

With chief trackside officer Mike Krack urging Alonso not to head for the exit door on Thursday morning, the Spaniard kept his options open. 

“It doesn't change anything," said Alonso when told of Krack's remarks. 

"I don't need Mike to tell me that I'm fast, I feel it every lap that I do on track, and I've been feeling [this] always. Let's see. 

"I have not taken any decision, I will wait until probably summer break, which is August, and after summer it's Zandvoort, Monza - I think around that time I will probably decide what to do next year."

"I will keep racing because I'm feeling fast, I feel motivated, and I love what I do, and I will not stop now, because I don't feel uncompetitive or I don't feel that I don't enjoy racing." 

However, 'racing' does not necessarily mean competing in F1, as Alonso made clear when laying out some criteria behind his decision-making process. 

"If I am racing Formula One or not, that's a different story," he explained. "I need to enjoy the category, I need to enjoy the feeling of driving the power units and these regulations and these kinds of things. There are many factors to put in place, and there are many options to race in the world of motorsport.

“But I still love Formula One. I'm committed to this team also, so even if I don't race, commitment with the team and with the project is the same and still the same as what it has been for years now. We started this in a way together with some success in 2023 and with lot of changes in the company and in the campus in Silverstone, now with the partnership with Honda, with Aramco with the new fuels. 

"There are a lot of things that we built together in a way. As I said many times, this team, there is certain guarantees that it will succeed and it will fight for world championships. You know, we don't know if that will be next year, in three years time, or in eight years time. That's that's probably my limitation behind the wheel, but I want to win a world championship with Aston Martin, with or without driving, that's still the same commitment in my case.”

Pressed on the speculation linking him with a move back to Enstone to rejoin Flavio Briatore at Alpine, Alonso was clear in his response. 

“I mean, there are always rumours, you know, and we've [Aston Martin] been very badly treated by the outside world, and it's normal," he said. 

"I mean, we are underperforming, we are in a bad moment and you know, when summer break comes, there are always rumours. There are rumours in the top teams, there are rumours also in our case because we are underperforming. But, as I said, my commitment with Aston Martin is beyond my driving time.