Fernando Alonso has expressed that he will give “priority” to Aston Martin regarding his Formula 1 future but believes he would be an “attractive” signing for other teams.
The F1 driver market has exploded into activity before the current season has even got underway with the news that Lewis Hamilton will move to Ferrari from 2025.
Hamilton’s decision to end his long association with Mercedes has opened up a vacancy at the Brackley-based squad that is likely to be coveted by a multitude of drivers.
Alonso will be one of 13 individuals from the current crop out of contract at the end of this year and would represent a suitable fit to replace Hamilton’s title-winning pedigree.
However, the Spaniard has declared that he intends to first hold discussions with the Aston Martin team that he achieved his greatest season with since 2013 last term.
When asked if there had been any direct contact with Mercedes, Alonso told media including Motorsport Week: “On the Mercedes thing, nothing at all.
“As I said, first of all, I know the driver market has started earlier this year than probably June or July, which is the normal timing. But this will not affect me at all in terms of preparing [for] the season good enough.
“Because it’s so limited, I cannot think too much about the future right now. I will have to be and wait a few races.
“I’m aware of my situation, which is very unique. There are only three World Champions on the grid, and fast World Champions, because in the past maybe there were some World Champions but they were not so committed to be fast. And yeah, I’m probably the only one available for ’25. So I have a good position.
“At the same time, when I make the decision if I want to keep racing or not for the future, first and only talk that I will have at the beginning is with Aston Martin, because this will be my only one priority.”
Alonso’s switch to Aston Martin last season coincided with the British marque emerging as a competitive front-running force through the opening exchanges of the campaign.
The two-time champion landed eight podiums en route to placing fourth in the Drivers’ Championship with 206 points, labelling it his strongest season since 2012.
But despite the 42-year-old’s drive appearing higher than ever, he has admitted that his stance on remaining in F1 will depend on the extent to which he can commit to a team.
“First of all, I think there are a couple of phases that I need to go through,” he explained. “I need to decide myself what I want to do for the future. If I want to commit my life, again, for a few more years to this sport, which I love.
“But I love driving, I’ve been driving different cars all over the winter: DTM, car, car cross, rally car, go kart itself… So I love Formula 1, but generally I love driving. So if it’s not Formula 1, I will find myself happy in any other form of motorsport, and maybe having more time for my private life, which is also very important at this age.
“But this is a decision that I need to do with myself. I need to think, and I need to commit to a team, eventually, and make sure that I understand that the next few years of my life, it will be that team and 100% of my time.”
While Alonso admits that continuing with the Silverstone-based squad is his ambition, he is convinced that he would represent an enticing prospect for rival teams on the grid with the strength of his recent performances.
“Once I make that decision I want to sit with Aston Martin and say, ‘OK, I made this decision, and I would love to continue with this project’,” he addressed.
“Because I think we did a good step forward in the last year, we built a lot of things together. We have this new facility here, we have everything to succeed for the future, and I trust this project. So that will be my first priority when I say that I want to speak first with Aston Martin, because I feel part of this project very much.
“But if you know we cannot reach an agreement, and I want to commit to racing Formula 1, I know that I have a privileged position. I’m probably attractive to other teams, the performance that they saw last year, the commitment. And as I said, there are only three World Champions on the grid, and there is only one available.”…Read more by Taylor Powling
