Fernando Alonso confirms F1 retirement plans with 'last season' in sight - Understanding the Factors of Production: Key Elements in Finance

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Fernando Alonso has said that he is likely to retire at the end of the F1 2026 season as things stand, with Formula 1’s new regulations “the time of truth” for Aston Martin.

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Alonso stands as one of the most successful drivers in F1 history, with 32 grand prix victories and two World Championships to his name.

Fernando Alonso to treat F1 2026 as last season before retirement

However, the Spaniard remains without a race win since his penultimate season with Ferrari in 2013, with the F1 2025 campaign marking the 20th anniversary of his first title-winning campaign with Renault.

Alonso announced earlier this year that he will remain with Aston Martin until the end of the F1 2026 season, by which time he will by 45, after signing a multi-year contract extension.

Aston Martin have high hopes for F1 2026 following the signing of design guru Adrian Newey, with the team also entering a technical partnership with Honda, Red Bull’s current engine suppliers, in time for the sport’s new era.

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Andy Cowell, the mastermind behind Mercedes’ success under the V6-hybrid engine rules introduced in 2014, will also play an instrumental role in the F1 2026 project, along with former Ferrari technical director Enrico Cardile.

Appearing on the Chequered Flag podcast, Alonso, who made his F1 debut in 2001 and has racked up more than 400 grand prix appearances, revealed that he will treat F1 2026 as his last season.

But he also teased that he will be tempted to remain onboard for an extra season in 2027 if Aston Martin excel under the new rules.

He said: “The expectations will be high because it’s a new change, a new car, change of regulations, a car made by Adrian.

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“Probably – or at least to start with – it will be my last season in Formula 1 because my contract finishes at the end of 2026, so it’s the time of delivering and the time of truth. High expectations.

“I will start the season thinking like that, for sure, because I cannot think too much in the future.

“At the moment, my current contract is for two more years. With my age, my motivation, I don’t know how it’s going to be.

“If the 2026 season is running smoothly and we’re having a good time and there is a possibility to race one more year, I will be open, for sure.

“I will not close the door beforehand, but I will not start [the season] thinking that.

“I will take every race if it was my last race and I will enjoy every second.”

Alonso’s comments come after his long-serving manager and Alpine adviser Flavio Briatore revealed in August that F1 2026 is poised to be the two-time World Champion’s final season, with Alonso still to decide if he wants to stay on for 2027.

Briatore, who oversaw Alonso’s title triumphs in 2005/06 as team principal of Renault, told the Formula For Success podcast: “If you ask me if Fernando wants to continue after we finish the contract, our last year will be 2026 for the moment.

“What he wants to do after, I don’t know. Does he want to continue for one more year?

“The performance is there. You see the performance of Fernando, it’s there. It’s not a question of him losing concentration, during the race he’s always there.

“If he’s 11th, he wants to be 10th. If he’s 10th, he want to be ninth. He wants the car to be competitive. He’s qualifying well, he’s racing well.

“I don’t know, honestly, if he wants to stop with 2026 as his last year or if he wants to go ahead. Honestly, I don’t know.

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“It depends on the feeling he has about racing and the timing, I don’t know if he’ll have a family at the time and whatever.

“But for sure, he is somebody unique. I’ve never seen somebody like that, so determined every day, every day, every day. Never give up. Unbelievable.”

Speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix earlier this month, Alonso revealed that he had been suffering from ill health in the closing weeks of the F1 2024 campaign.

After missing his Thursday media duties in Mexico and Brazil to treat an intestinal infection, the veteran was heard complaining about an aching back in the closing laps in Sao Paulo having struggled with extreme porpoising.

Alonso then revealed that the physically demanding race in Brazil had also left him with an injured shoulder, with an improved physical condition among his targets for F1 2025.

He said: “I had this infection that I was dealing with.

“Then when I was OK, in Brazil we had this super bumpy track and then we had a lot of bouncing on our car on that weekend and I damaged the shoulder a little bit as well.

“I have a little bit [of an] injury here that was being treated up to Vegas.

“In Vegas, I was much better and here I am 99 per cent, but it was that period of the year that was a little bit annoying with some fever and some infection, antibiotics, all these things that put down your immune system.

“But this is the way it is. You cannot choose when you get ill.

“Hopefully, next year, I’ll be more prepared physically.”

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