After months of speculation, Fernando Alonso finally signed his contract extension with Aston Martin last week. Apparently, this is the longest contract of his career, as he admitted the same. Before putting pen to paper, Alonso was exploring several options, as Aston Martin struggled to keep up with the increasing competition in the midfield. There were rumors that the Spaniard is seeking seats at Mercedes and even at Red Bull for the 2025 season. However, it turns out that Red Bull allegedly rejected him as a viable option for their roster.
As soon as Lewis Hamilton announced his move to Ferrari, the #14 driver was rumored to take up that vacant Mercedes seat. However, after seeing their struggles, Alonso felt that moving to the Brackley stable may be a really bad move.
That left Red Bull as a possible destination. However, former F1 pit crew member Marc Priestley quoted Mark Hughes’s comments on what transpired between Alonso and the Austrian team even before the Spaniard snubbed Mercedes.
In his latest YouTube video, Priestley said, “He [Alonso] actually approached Red Bull Racing along with Lewis Hamilton. I might add that Red Bull Racing turned both of those approaches down. So, there was no seat available for him at Red Bull”.
Since Red Bull and Mercedes are the only two top-five teams where there are vacancies for 2025, those were Alonso’s main focus. With Ferrari and McLaren having sealed their lineups for the long term, the Spaniard did not have many other options to move away from Aston Martin.
The 42-year-old is desperate to fight for wins and maybe even the championship. With age catching up, Alonso will want to maximize whatever is left in him.
Thus, trying to stay at a promising midfield team which can possibly make a step forward to the front of the grid is essential for him. So, it makes sense why Alonso secured his future at Aston Martin after the doors closed on a move to Red Bull.
Is Fernando Alonso making the right call by sticking with Aston Martin?
With the 2026 regulations coming up, there is an impending reset of the pecking order. Aston Martin would want to capitalize on that, given it has allied with Honda as an engine partner for the new power unit regulations. Fernando Alonso may have considered this factor in his decision to renew his contract for at least another two seasons.
Alonso has most likely signed a multi-year deal [a 2+1 year deal probably] that takes him to the end of 2026. Post that, the 42-year-old has hinted that he would remain at the Silverstone outfit by taking up another role, probably that of a mentor.
The Honda association is something the two-time champion will bet on heavily. Given how the Japanese manufacturer has fueled Red Bull’s current dominance, Alonso would hope Aston Martin can also benefit from the Honda power unit in 2026 as well.
However, it is still a double-edged sword, as Honda has faltered previously at the onset of a new regulations cycle. Aston Martin and Alonso would not want to see a repeat of the abomination that was the McLaren-Honda partnership in 2015-17.
The Spaniard was also quite critical during those days, as he deemed the under-par engine from Sakura as a ‘GP2 engine’. However, the Japanese manufacturer has come a long way since then. They are also willing to forget those gremlins of the past and start afresh at the Silverstone outfit.
