Fernando Alonso believes that future success is “more or less guaranteed” for Aston Martin in F1’s new era, but admits that his “only question mark” is over when this will happen and whether he will still be driving for the team at that point.
The Silverstone-based outfit have taken on new signings in recent times as they aim to reap the rewards when a new wave of technical regulations come into effect in 2026, with Adrian Newey – who came onboard as Managing Technical Partner in March – focusing his attentions on preparing for next year’s car, while Chief Technical Officer Enrico Cardile and CEO and Team Principal Andy Cowell have also joined the project.
As such, when asked during an interview on Aston Martin’s official website if he feels that all of the pieces are in place for the squad to succeed during this new phase, Alonso responded: “I hope so. I mean, I’m pretty convinced about that.
“The only thing is when. That’s probably my only question mark from this project.
“In my case, driving in the last couple of years of my career, obviously, I want to taste the success of the Aston Martin project. But I know that everything takes a little bit of time to glue all the pieces together. And that’s my only question mark.
“Aston Martin Aramco fighting for and winning the World Championship is more or less guaranteed in the future. We have everything that is needed to fight for a World Championship.
“Then, to execute the job and to win it, you need some external factors as well: you need a little help from the competitors [with results not going their way]; you need a little bit of luck; you need to execute every weekend well.
“But let’s say, in preparation for 2026, we have everything in place.”
Alonso cited “opportunity” as his first thought when it comes to next year, with the Spaniard adding: “With the current regulations, the gap to the frontrunners is a little bit too much, and the energy and the effort that you need to overcome that gap is too much for now – too much to do in 2025.
“I see 2026 as an opportunity. Everything will be reset in a way, and then it’s up to us to do a better job than the others.”
With Alonso recently stating that 2026 is more likely to be his last year in Formula 1 if the car performs well – allowing him to end on a high note – the two-time World Champion was hopeful that his vast experience in both F1 and other categories in motorsport could prove useful when it comes to adapting to the new regulations.
“I’ve driven very different cars in motorsport, from rally cars in the dunes to endurance racing to Formula 1 – and very different eras of Formula 1,” the 44-year-old explained.
“So, you know, whatever we find next year in the first couple of days with the car, I’m sure that it will have some similarities with some of the experiences that I had in the past.
“Hopefully, I can understand any problems or opportunities, and feed that back to the team: what could be needed to tackle these.”