Will Aston Martin upgrade impact Fernando Alonso F1 retirement decision?

Fernando Alonso has said Aston Martin's upcoming upgrade package is 'not really connected' to his Formula 1 future, with mounting speculation that the two-time champion could be set to retire for a second time. 

Alonso retired from F1 at the end of the 2018 season, performing doughnuts on the start straight in Abu Dhabi alongside multiple champions Sebastian Vettel and Lewis Hamilton. However, he returned to the championship with Alpine in 2021, before making the move to Aston Martin in 2023, where he returned to the podium on eight occasions in his first 10 outings. 

Those days seem a long time gone, though, with Aston Martin now struggling with only a single point, and completing the back row of the grid at recent races.

A major upgrade package is expected to arrive for the Hungarian Grand Prix before the summer break, with Honda set to bring an improved power unit on the other side of the break, at Zandvoort. 

Asked if the success of these packages will impact his thinking on a second retirement, Alonso told media, including Crash.net, "I don't know.

"As I have said, I will think over the summer break, but yeah, I don't know. I cannot say that it's really connected, you know, because if the car is good or bad, you know, there are other factors that I need to think about. 

"Maybe the car is super good and then still [I have] feelings that the sport is going in the wrong direction, or I think the next two races are going to be a different experience than what we have been driving in Silverstone and Spa, beautiful circuits in the past, especially with the ground effect cars. 

"I think Silverstone was probably the best of the circuits, suiting that car perfectly. 

"I think this year is going to be very different and not fun to drive the cars, looking at the simulator lap and things like that, it's going to be quite, quite sad, I think, for drivers, but also for the spectators, and vice versa. 

"Maybe the car is not improving much in Budapest, but we have another upgrade, or we have a completely new concept for next year, or, you know, there is a different feeling in the team that makes me think about continuing for more years, so it will help, no doubt.

"When I go on holiday on the 1st of August, it will be nice to have a good race in Budapest just before the holiday, but it will not be, let's say, the only point."

Alonso has grown increasingly vocal about the decision taken at the start of the season to hold back upgrades in order to introduce a single wider-reaching package, and has questioned how other teams are able to consistently bring new parts, despite being limited by the cost cap.

Asked to confirm if it is his intention to take a decision on his future during the summer, Alonso confirmed: "Yes, that's that's the plan. Talking on the um, how do you call it, the rain stars, they're normally in the 14th, 15th of August, so yeah, we will look at the sky at night."