The reasons behind Alonso renewing F1 contract with Aston Martin

It had been on the cards for a long time, but ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia it was finally officially announced: Fernando Alonso will add another year to his illustrious Formula 1 career, which will make 2027 his 24th season at the pinnacle of motorsport.

Almost everyone in the paddock already knew that Alonso would stay, which also explains why Mike Krack repeatedly said he was "relaxed" despite the announcement taking months to arrive.

The process that led to a new signature for 2027 was rather straightforward, Alonso explained during media day at Sepang.

"I took the decision quite recently, and sitting with Lawrence was very straightforward," he said. "We didn't have much to discuss. We both wanted to continue at that point. It was a five-minute talk and then we announced it."

Nevertheless, the timing of the announcement is interesting. In Madrid, Alonso said his future would largely depend on the regulation changes for 2027. Over the coming years, the ratio between the internal combustion engine and electrical power will move towards 60-40 in two steps, with the split for 2027 set at 58-42.

However, nothing has changed in next year’s regulations since Madrid, yet Alonso has still given the green light to continue. The real reason for carrying on therefore turns out to be slightly different: Alonso says he still feels the fire inside and does not want to let that go.

"I have no guarantees that 2027 will be more fun, but it is a commitment that you have to make to yourself," he continued. "And at the end of the day, I feel fast, I feel motivated and I feel that I'm enjoying what I'm doing.

Asked by Autosport about his motivation to continue, the Spaniard said: "If I'm sitting at home watching TV and watching the races, I will feel that I can do better than them.

"That's what I felt in a way when I was away from F1 and when I was watching the races. I was thinking, 'Wow, this and that is not right'. I was always feeling the fire inside of being there and trying to do better. I still feel it now and I said, you know, until I have that fire inside, I think it's no time to stop."

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Alex Bierens de Haan / LAT Images via Getty Images

The new contract means Alonso will still be competing in F1 next year at the age of 46. When, following his comments about a conversation with Stroll that lasted just five minutes, the Aston Martin driver was asked how long he had to discuss another year with those at home, he joked: "Well, that was not about the family duties, but more about my way of understanding life and motorsport.

"My wife is very supportive, she's feeling the pain this year as well and she's worried about my health when we are not competitive! So I think it's better to… she prefers me away when we are not competitive!"

That said, Alonso is still pushing for further changes to the regulations. In Madrid, he said he had not entirely given up hope of further adjustments before the start of next season, before even putting forward a concrete proposal in Baku.

The two-time champion suggested limiting the battery’s maximum power for longer periods, so that the speed profiles become more natural again and drivers only reach their top speed at the end of a straight – rather than halfway along it before going into clipping or super clipping.

Nothing has changed on that front since Madrid, but when Autosport asked Alonso how much he still believes in further changes, the man from Oviedo replied: "I have hopes, yes."

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin

Photo by: Alastair Staley / LAT Images via Getty Images

According to the Aston Martin driver, further changes are also necessary to improve the series as a whole, something the one-off visit to Sepang underlines once again.

"We come to an incredible circuit now, but it's going to be sad in the middle sector because we cannot use the battery there", he said. "If you do, then you don't have [any battery] for the three consecutive straights from Turn 15 to the last corner, from last corner to Turn 1, and from Turn 1 to Turn 3.

"You have to use the full battery on those three straights, so the rest is just charging the battery.

"That is the problems we are facing now, in terms of bringing the cars to the limit of the grip. But I decided that, maybe next year with the 60-40 split and with the second year of these rules, maybe there is a little bit of a better compromise on that."

In addition, Alonso also wants to give Aston Martin’s ambitious project another chance, another year in which he hopes to reap more of the rewards from all the investments behind the scenes.

"I said, let's do one more time, let’s give it another opportunity," he explained. "Especially on the power unit side, we started with the wrong foot and it is a question mark what is going to happen next year. But yeah, I think they deserve another opportunity and I still feel fast."