During the week, the long-awaited and rumored announcement arrived: Aston Martin from 2026 he will join Honda, definitively detaching from Mercedes. Many questions have arisen following this announcement: was Lawrence Stroll right to take this direction? What can the team aspire to? But above all, what does Fernando Alonso think of this choice since the past of him with Honda Isn't it just roses and flowers? His contract does not currently extend beyond 2024 but the excellent results that the team is achieving – especially with Fernando – and the competitiveness of the AMR23 they could convince him to go as far as 2026, on the threshold of 45 years.
Fernando approves the marriage with Honda
The past is the past, the Honda CEO also said as he spoke of living together with Fernando years ago. Thought that Fernando Alonso fully shares. Aston Martin has not just landed a coup, signing the reigning champions to carry out a very ambitious project. What is certain is that 2026 will be a challenge for everyone and we cannot know how the teams will arrive at this deadline. Honda allows the team to be more independent, to take a path that does not tie it to other teams on the grid, and this is perhaps the biggest bet that Aston Martin could have made, by deciding to produce everything independently.
“The partnership with Honda – says Alonso during the press conference in Monte-Carlo – that's great news for the team. I'm really excited about it, and I think it demonstrates Aston Martin's commitment to actually winning championship races. In the future it is important to be independent, to produce everything they can produce from the machine. It's probably the only way to be 100% sure that you are in control of every aspect of your package, of their car and it is a very positive sign for everyone at Aston Martin. Because the potential to be successful, to win, is there. In Formula, a team needs its own Power Unit. Among other things, a new regulation will arrive in 2026. And it's always better to be able to develop your own power unit together with the chassis and have everything integrated in advance. "
Racing with Honda wouldn't be a problem for Fernando Alonso who admits: “I know it didn't work last time. In 2015, 16 and 17 and maybe it was even worse for some of my team mates like Stoffel (Vandoorne), who maybe came from his dominance in formula 3 formula 2 and then entered a project where maybe he wasn't totally ready at the time. However they have now proven that they have a competitive package. They won the 2021 championship. They won it in 2022 and most likely they will win it in 2023 too, so I think they have a very strong package now. "
Doubt about staying until 2026
There are still 3 years left before the arrival of the new regulation and Honda, but the leap in quality made by Aston Martin from 2022 to 2023 is enough to give hope to Fernando who believes in the possibility of winning a world championship well before 2026. “Being an official team from this point of view only brings benefits, but this does not mean that between now and 2026 Aston Martin cannot already have an opportunity to win the championship" explains Alonso.
On the possibility of seeing him on the track beyond 2024, Fernando replied as follows: “I don't know what I'm going to do in 2026. I'd be lying if I told you I already know now. Definitely I feel fresh, I feel motivated, I feel fit, still fast and if I keep having fun I would like to keep racing. But there will come a time, a day when I will wake up and maybe I will no longer feel the motivation or I will no longer feel happy about continuing this journey. Or maybe I won't feel faster and at that point I'll be the first to raise my hand and say maybe it's time to hang up my helmet.”
“Now I want to focus on Monaco because I think it's an important weekend. Then I will focus on this season, then on the next, in which we hope to be able to grow further and fight for even more important goals."
Victory number 33 in Monaco?
Fernando trembles, and when there is talk of his possible victory in Monte-Carlo he smiles. He knows that this is perhaps the most important Grand Prix of the season, as well as the one in which Aston Martin has the best chance to prevail over Red Bull. However, it will be necessary to be perfect from Saturday with the extremely important qualifying in Monte-Carlo.
"We think we are stronger here in Monaco - dares Fernando – and I don't think there will be a huge change compared to Baku which is also a street circuit. I'd be lying if I told you I came here not thinking I could win the race, because I know this is a great opportunity. Monaco and Singapore are very specific tracks, street circuits that require great confidence. Great confidence in free practice to get closer and closer to the walls. And so I'm going to attack more than anyone else this weekend. Will the track be wet or dry? I am not interested.
