Fernando Alonso is all set to reunite with Honda after he extended his current deal with Aston Martin. The Spaniard will now stay at Silverstone until at least the end of the 2026 season, the same year when Aston Martin will join forces with Honda to produce their engines under the new regulations. Interestingly, Alonso has agreed to reunite with Honda, a company’s power unit he once infamously labeled as a “GP2 engine“.
When Fernando Alonso was driving for McLaren back in 2015, he expressed his sheer frustrations on the team radio because of how slow the car was. Midway into the Japanese GP, the Spaniard said, “GP2 engine! GP2“.
Five years after he made those remarks, Alonso also expressed his regret about the same. In an interview with F1Racing Magazine (as quoted by Sky Sports) in 2020, the Oviedo-born driver said, “It came from a place of frustration and maybe I should not say that“.
However, Alonso made it clear in the interview that their engine was terrible. The Spaniard’s struggles with McLaren were evident as he failed to register a single podium in his four-year stint at Woking between 2015 and 2018.
Now that he has signed a contract extension with Aston Martin, Alonso will be hoping for a different outcome with Honda. There was interest from seemingly better outfits including Red Bull and Mercedes. Still, the 42-year-old put all his faith in Aston Martin.
Fernando Alonso believes he can win a championship with Aston Martin
Although it has been over a decade since Fernando Alonso last won an F1 race, he has not stopped dreaming. He wants, not just to win his 33rd F1 Grand Prix, but also his third world championship. For that, he feels Aston Martin is the perfect team.
Speaking of how he wants to achieve more with Aston Martin in the future, Alonso said (as quoted by Sky Sports), “It was also a sense of loyalty that I wanted to express to my team. One year and a half ago we started together, and we achieved so many things, some of them probably unprecedented in F1“.
Although Alonso has not had the best of starts to the 2024 season, Aston Martin seems to be a team that has high ambitions that are likely to match the Spaniard’s. Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack has made it clear that his side’s goal is to fight for the Constructors’ title, which is aligned with what Alonso wants.
Whether or not they will be able to achieve their goals, only time will tell. The only thing that remains certain at this point is that Alonso’s decision to stay with Aston Martin will not do Carlos Sainz any favors. The 29-year-old is without a seat for 2025 at the moment, and the options for him seem to have decreased further with Alonso’s extension.
