Fernando Alonso confirms plans as rival F1 team plots swoop | F1 | Sport

Fernando Alonso admitted Formula 1 retirement this season remains a possibility as he responded to speculation over his future. The Spaniard turns 45 in July and has said on many occasions this year that he will decide later in the season whether or not this will be his final campaign on the F1 grid.

But the story took an intriguing turn in Barcelona two weeks ago, where a new paddock rumour emerged that Alpine were trying to convince their former racer to return for another spell. The Enstone team is once again led by Flavio Briatore, who was incharge of the outfit when Alonso won his two titles for Renault in 2005 and ’06, and who remains his manager to this day.

The rumour suggested Briatore has been back in his client’s ear to ask if he would be willing to walk away from struggling Aston Martin and race for Alpine once more next year. However, Alonso now seems to have put any idea of that happening to bed as, speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s Austrian Grand Prix, he said he will remain loyal to Aston Martin – even if he is not racing for them himself.

He said: “I’m committed to this team also so, even if I don’t race, my commitment with the team and with the project is the same and still the same as what it has been for years now. We started this in a way together with some success in 2023. And with a lot of changes in the company and in the campus in Silverstone, now with the partnership with Honda, with Aramco, with the new fuels.

“There are a lot of things that we built together in a way, and as I said many times, this team is there is certain guarantees that it will succeed and will fight for world championships. We don’t know if that will be next year, in three years’ time, or in eight years’ time. That’s probably my limitation behind the wheel. But that I want to win a world championship with Aston Martin, with or without driving, that’s still the same commitment in my case.

Regarding the Alpine speculation itself, he added: “There are always rumours you know and we’ve been very badly treated by the outside world. And it’s normal. I mean, we are underperforming, we are in a bad moment, and when summer break comes, there are always rumours. There are rumours at the top teams. There are rumours also in our case because we are underperforming. But, as I said, my commitment with Aston Martin is beyond my driving time.

“I believe in this project and we have the right people. We have obviously the best of the best with Adrian Newey. We have Honda. We started with the back foot, yes, we understand that, but we are trying to put things in place as soon as possible. We are an easy target because we are at the back and there are all this things and jokes on social media, probably that’s borderline abuse.

“We are not happy with our position, but we are hard workers, and Honda are hard workers, and Aston Martin… The problems will be fixed, it’s a matter of time. I believe in the project, I trust my team, and we are all in this together. Obviously, we take one of the hardest parts of the situation because we race every week and we face the media every week, and we jump in the car tomorrow, and we are very uncompetitive.

“But our team and our leaders took the decision in Australia to wait until it was worth making an upgraded package. For cost efficient and things like that. And we all agree on that. And we are all waiting on that and we wait in the best manner possible.”