Fernando Alonso says he remains undecided on his Formula 1 future and that the regulations will determine whether he extends his record-breaking stay.
Formula 1’s driver market has remained stagnant this summer amid the recent decisions of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris to extend their contracts with Red Bull and McLaren respectively.
It leaves Aston Martin racer Alonso as the biggest name out of contract at the end of the year.
Alonso has scored only three points—two of which came at the last event at Zandvoort—due to Aston Martin and Honda’s performance woes through the campaign.
Matters improved after the AMR26 was heavily updated in Hungary, followed by Honda’s Spec 2 PU being introduced at Zandvoort, but the marque’s deficiencies are expected to be greater exposed at power-hungry Monza.
“For my decision, it is not really about the car,” Alonso said. “I will be professional and working at my 100 percent [whether] fighting for P15 or fighting for a podium. But for me it is more about the regulations.
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Fernando Alonso picked up two of his three points of the season at the Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.
“Unfortunately, this is what it is. This is not the Formula 1 we grew up with. This is not the Formula 1 that we all want: drivers, spectators. So we must change a few things. It will not happen immediately. It will happen for the future. But I hope I can contribute somehow for the next set of regulations [and] we go back to the real Formula 1.”
Alonso’s comments come amid Aston Martin indicating that it has only a smattering of weight-saving updates across the remainder of 2026 as it switches focus to 2027.
While there will be understanding of new components, and greater progress made on drivability on Honda’s side, Aston Martin’s Chief Technical Officer Enrico Cardile revealed in an in-house interview that most attention is now on the 2027 package.
“After Hungary, we brought a few small refinements—tweaks to the front wing and floor at Zandvoort,” said Cardile. “Those will be the last planned aero developments for this car.
“The only exception would be if, while we’re developing the 2027 car, we discover something that it makes sense to test on track this year to help our correlation. But as of now, nothing more is scheduled.
“We do still have our weight saving program to complete. That should be done around Baku. From Baku onwards, we’ll essentially be running the final version of the car for the rest of the season.”
U.K.-based Phillip Horton started covering Grands Prix while still at university and swiftly deemed that writing about Formula 1 and the behind-the-scenes machinations was much more engaging than reading centuries-old novels. Degree gained, he went on to cover the sport full-time from 2014 and is as intrigued and excited by the destinations Formula 1 visits during its lengthy annual world tour as the racing itself. Phillip joined Autoweek in 2021 and while he has just about learned to spell in American English he has yet to find anywhere in America that makes a proper cup of tea.