Alonso wants to stay in F1 despite slow start: ‘I feel happy when I’m driving’

The question follows Fernando Alonso everywhere he goes. At press conferences, in paddock interviews, at historic racing events in Monaco. When will he stop?

The answer he gives has not changed in months, and at the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique last weekend, he delivered it once more with the kind of calm certainty that comes from a man who genuinely means what he says.

“The time will tell. I will feel it. At the moment, I don’t feel it is that time yet. I feel competitive, I feel motivated, I feel happy when I drive.”

“Hopefully not the last season.”

The words came with a pause that carried the weight of nearly a quarter century in Formula 1. For Alonso, they were not a throwaway line. They were the most honest answer he could give.

Racing since the age of three

To understand why retirement feels so difficult to imagine for Alonso, it helps to understand the scale of what he would be giving up.

He did not arrive in Formula 1 as a young man with a limited sporting life ahead of him. Racing has been the defining activity of his entire existence.

“I love what I do. I love racing. I did my first race when I was three years old and I am 44, so 41 years of my life I have been behind a steering wheel,” he said.

“So the moment I have to stop racing, it will be a very hard decision and difficult to accept.”

That first race came on a kart his father had originally bought for his sister. The young Alonso took to it immediately and never looked back.

Since then, he has won two Formula 1 world championships, 32 grands prix, two 24 Hours of Le Mans titles, the FIA World Endurance Championship and 428 Formula 1 starts, more than any driver in history.

Away from the track, March 2026 brought a milestone of a different kind.

His partner, journalist and F1 presenter Melissa Jimenez, gave birth to their son Leonard just days before the Japanese Grand Prix, causing Alonso to arrive in Suzuka later than planned. He became a father for the first time at the age of 44.

The news brought a warmth to his public appearances that even the difficulties of the 2026 season have not dimmed.

“I became a dad one month ago so my life is a little bit more busy than it has been,” he said with a smile at Monaco.

“But very happy and enjoying a beautiful weekend. It’s sunny, there’s race cars. What can be better than that?”

The personal happiness stands in sharp contrast to the situation on track. Aston Martin has endured one of the most difficult starts to a season in its recent history.

The AMR26, powered by a Honda engine in the team’s first year as Honda’s works partner, has suffered from serious reliability issues and a lack of pace from the very first race.

Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll sit at the bottom of the drivers’ standings after three rounds, with Alonso’s 18th place in Japan the only time either car has seen the chequered flag this season.

The contrast with expectations could hardly be starker. When Adrian Newey arrived as a creative force within the team, alongside new technical director Enrico Cardile and CEO Andy Cowell, the paddock genuinely believed Aston Martin could mount a serious challenge in the new regulatory era. Three races in, those hopes remain firmly unfulfilled.

For Alonso, the struggle creates an unusual dilemma. He had previously suggested that a competitive car in 2026 might make it easier to walk away, while a poor season would make retirement harder to accept without a final shot at something meaningful.

“If things go well, I think it is a very good moment to stop,” he said last year. “If we are not competitive, it will be very hard to give up without trying again.”

The 2026 season appears to be pushing him firmly towards the latter. His contract with Aston Martin expires at the end of the year, and with the team so far from where it needs to be, the prospect of Alonso agreeing to another season to see the project through looks increasingly real.

Alonso is not naive about what eventually ends a racing career. He knows the day will come when the timing sheets no longer reflect what he believes he is capable of. He has prepared himself for that moment, even as he insists it has not arrived.

“Sometimes you get a little bit injured, you get some bad races. But if we keep it healthy and in good conditions, the stopwatch will also tell me one day that I don’t feel fast enough or that I can’t put the lap together. But so far, I’m happy with that.”

What keeps him going is not a need to prove anything to the outside world. He has nothing left to prove. It is something simpler and more personal.

“I’m happy when I’m on the grid. When I finish the race on Sunday, even if the results are not nice at the moment, I’m so motivated to go to the next race and try to overcome the bad race and have a better one.”