Aston Martin ‘not convinced’ Alonso would definitely want to stay in F1

The Silverstone-based squad last week announced a new long-term deal with Alonso that will carry their partnership into the new rules era in F1 from 2026.

But despite the contract talks being straightforward between both parties once they began, team principal Mike Krack has revealed to some private concerns that F1’s ever-expanding schedule and demands could have been a factor in triggering Alonso to choose not to stay on racing.

Asked in China if he was always convinced that Alonso could want to stay racing in F1, Krack said: “No, I was not convinced.

“Fernando was very clear when he joined that the calendar and the travel is draining a lot of energy, especially if you want to do things the way he does them.

“There is no 99%. And that is why, with the calendar like it is, it takes everything out of you. And I think he has said it many times: that there is no life. Either you are 100% in it or not.

“So when you see how he is working, when he's there [in the garage], how he is interacting, you see that there is only 100% for him. And you understand also that when he says there is no life around that, it is true.

“So considering that I had some concerns that he was going to say: ‘no, I want to do something else in life’, I was very happy to see that he loves F1 more than private life.”

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin AMR24

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Speculation had linked Alonso with drives at both Red Bull and Mercedes in recent months, but Krack said there had been no hint internally of the two-time world champion doing anything other than he had promised: that if he decided he wanted to remain in F1, his priority would be Aston Martin.

“Fernando is a man of his word,” said Krack. “He told us that what he communicated to the outside was the same as what he communicated to the inside.

“He said: ‘I need to discuss first with myself, and I need to decide if I want to continue. Then, if I want to continue, I want to discuss first with Aston Martin.’

“This is what happened. And we're quite happy that it ended the way it did.”

Because uncertainty in the driver market for 2025 meant a lot of movements would not wait, Krack says he and Alonso had agreed an early deadline to make a call.

“We had always given ourselves some date at which we wanted to take a decision,” he said.

“There was an agreement that we took quite early. And it was really nice to see that just everybody stuck to what he said. So it went actually as we thought it would go.”

Stroll decision imminent

Lance Stroll, Aston Martin F1 Team

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

With Alonso’s contract in place, Krack said he expected efforts to ramp up now to finalise a new deal with team-mate Lance Stroll.

“Last week it was mainly about Fernando, but we also know that Aston Martin is Lance's home,” added Krack.

“We know that and the whole project has always been around him. So we look for continuity. I have always said that that it is very important, so we will see in the next weeks.”