At the age of 43 and having competed in more than 400 Grand Prix with Minardi, Renault, Ferrari, Alpine and Aston Martin, Fernando Alonso has established himself as a true legend of Formula 1. Despite belonging to an older generation, the Spaniard continues to compete at the highest level face to face with much younger drivers.
The 2026 season could be Fernando Alonso’s last as an Aston Martin F1 driver
The 2026 season, which everyone has marked in red, could be the last for the Aston Martin driver in F1, marking his 23rd season in the ‘Great Circus’. Although time seems to be moving faster for him than for his rivals, the double world champion with Renault in 2005 and 2006 is clear that, whatever happens, he will continue to race and compete.
In any case, the start of 2025 has been much more complicated than he imagined, especially for the interests of the Asturian. Because the Aston Martin still does not have the expected pace and has not yet been able to score points in the World Championship due to the two retirements in the two Grands Prix that have been held in Australia and China.
Of course, nothing has changed for the driver’s hopes. Fernando Alonso is confident that Aston Martin will not only enable him to fight for victories again, but also to win the long-awaited third title that has eluded him since 2007, the first outside Renault, when he shared a team with Lewis Hamilton.
In this sense, and even though his age is questioned by some of his most critical critics, the two-time champion wants to finish what he started: to return to the top. Until now, and despite having years as good as 2023, where he clearly became one of the candidates for victory in a certain part of the season, the only thing that can be discerned is to trust in the 2026 regulations, which today are what give weighty reasons for Alonso to have his last chance to achieve the objective.
Honda and Aston Martin are considering Yuki Tsunoda as Fernando Alonso’s replacement
In this sense, and as a key point, from next year Aston Martin will stop using Mercedes engines and will use those of Honda. Until mid-2024, the best engines that gave Max Verstappen and Red Bull four consecutive titles.
In their agreement for the change to be made by Honda and Aston Martin, however, the Japanese were also very clear: for the future they would like a Japanese driver to be one of the official drivers of the Silverstone team, currently with the Spaniard and Lance Stroll.
That’s where Yuki Tsunoda is, protected and supported by Honda since he was a child, and the people who did their best to convince Red Bull that the time was right to promote him from Formula 2 in 2021 to drive the AlphaTauri (now Racing Bulls).
In this sense, and as reported in the British press, Honda and Aston Martin joining forces in 2026 would also help to make time run against ’14’. Or what is the same thing; it is no longer just a question of whether the Spaniard and the car designed by Adrian Newey manage to win the title, it is that Yuki Tsunoda is on the agenda to take the seat that, at some point, will become free at Aston Martin sooner rather than later. Be it Fernando Alonso’s or Lance Stroll’s.
Tsunoda is still of great interest to sit in the future Aston Martin
In fact, 365Racing’s information maintains that, despite Tsunoda’s promotion for the remainder of 2025 at Red Bull, the Japanese driver remains of great interest to become a driver for Lawrence Stroll’s team in a couple of years’ time. “(Red Bull) gave Checo Pérez everything they could to try to move forward, to score as many points as possible, but it just wasn’t working,” revealed Anthony Davidson, Sky Sports F1 commentator.
“Maybe they could have put Tsunoda in the car, he’s earning his spurs, but he’s a Honda driver, and with Honda moving to Aston Martin in the future, how long will they really keep Yuki Tsunoda?”, he said. ‘What’s the point of raising him, nurturing that talent and educating him only for him to disappear into Aston Martin in the future?’, the former driver wondered.
As such, Honda will leave Red Bull and move to Aston Martin from 2026. There will be an Alonso who has signed a multi-year renewal. And alongside him could be a Tsunoda who seems eager to get that seat in the green car.