{"id":772923,"date":"2026-07-01T21:51:12","date_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/772923\/"},"modified":"2026-07-01T21:51:12","modified_gmt":"2026-07-01T21:51:12","slug":"adrian-newey-drops-fernando-alonso-f1-retirement-hint-amid-painful-aston-martin-decision","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/772923\/","title":{"rendered":"Adrian Newey drops Fernando Alonso F1 retirement hint amid ‘painful’ Aston Martin decision"},"content":{"rendered":"

Adrian Newey has appeared to suggest Fernando Alonso may retire from Formula 1<\/a> if Aston Martin\u2019s current car will not improve after its planned upgrades suite is introduced.<\/p>\n

Aston has, of course, been at the centre of constant media intrusion amid the team\u2019s problematic start to the season, which sees them fighting at the back of the pack.<\/p>\n

This has left Stroll and the veteran two-times World Champion Alonso with little to achieve except pride, and show nothing but patience as the team, and engine manufacturer Honda, strive to improve the issue-laden situation.<\/p>\n

No doubt both drivers will have been left additionally frustrated by the constant questioning from media about their current woe, which Newey addressed when speaking to AstonMartinF1.com ahead of this weekend\u2019s British Grand Prix<\/a> at Silverstone \u2013 the team\u2019s base.<\/p>\n

\u201cBoth drivers have shown frustration, and at times that has spilled into the media. But it\u2019s also understandable. They\u2019re competitive animals. They want to fight at the front,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve had a lot of conversations with both of them about where we are, where we\u2019re going.\u201d<\/p>\n

Newey did appear to admit, however, that Alonso may hang up his helmet if the team\u2019s upgrade \u2013 planned for the Hungarian Grand Prix \u2013 does not sufficiently work.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s very important,\u201d he said of the upgrade.\u00a0\u201cFernando is really looking forward to the upgrade\u00a0and, if it performs we hope he\u2019ll be in the cockpit for another season.<\/p>\n

\u201cGiven his experience, his feel for the car, his ability to guide development, he\u2019s a tremendous asset. But he wants to see clear, tangible progress. If we can show that we\u2019re moving decisively in the right direction, he\u2019s absolutely committed to being behind the wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"AdrianAdrian Newey has described Fernando Alonso and teammate Lance Stroll as \u201ccompetitive animals\u201d as Aston Martin continues to languish at the back of the F1 field<\/p>\n

Newey stands by \u2018right decision\u2019 of upgrade introduction<\/p>\n

There would no doubt have been temptation for Aston Martin to introduce upgrades whenever possible and available, but there has been a conscious decision to introduce them all in Hungary, in one lump.<\/p>\n

It has left the AMR26 rooted to the back of the field, but Newey is firm on the belief that it is in the best interests of Aston that it is the correct one.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a painful decision,\u201d he admitted. \u201cWhile others have been adding performance, we\u2019ve effectively been standing still in relative terms, so each weekend can feel more painful than the last.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we believe it\u2019s the right decision \u2013 the right investment for our future, if you like. Our partners \u2013 Aramco, Valvoline, Honda and others \u2013 understand that this is a necessary trying period that we, in truth, probably need to go through to come out stronger, with a decent step forward in the second half of this season and a much bigger one for next year.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision will mean that, barring miracles, Aston Martin will be fighting for positions at the back this weekend, but has the confidence that its moment of vindication will come very soon.<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Adrian Newey reveals \u2018key aim\u2019 for Aston Martin amid confirmed health concern<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Adrian Newey has appeared to suggest Fernando Alonso may retire from Formula 1 if Aston Martin\u2019s current car…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":772924,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[572],"tags":[18573,64,63,817,845,806,805,803,804,215889,85],"class_list":["post-772923","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-motosport","tag-astonmartin","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-fernando-alonso","tag-motor","tag-motor-sports","tag-motosport","tag-motosports","tag-newey","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772923","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=772923"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/772923\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/772924"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=772923"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=772923"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=772923"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}