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The driver market is in flux at the moment, following Lewis Hamilton’s decision to move to Ferrari,<\/a> and the internal ructions at Red Bull caused by allegations about team principal Christian Horner’s behaviour towards a female colleague.<\/a><\/p>\n Alonso had spoken to other teams, he admitted. He would not name them, but it’s no secret he meant Red Bull and Mercedes. <\/p>\n But, as he had said he would just a few weeks ago, Alonso made his own decision in his own time, not waiting for, or being rushed, by others. <\/p>\n “I felt the most wanted in Aston Martin,” said Alonso. “The other conversations were just light and maybe more time was needed, whereas in Aston there was a clear desire to work together and it was the same I had.”<\/p>\n He said the new contract was “the longest project I ever signed – it will keep me linked with Aston for many years to come. Let’s see how long I keep driving.”<\/p>\n Time was when it was felt that the late 30s were as long as a driver could go before he lost his edge. Now, Alonso will still be out there in his mid-40s, something that has not happened for a top driver since five-time world champion Juan Manuel Fangio in the 1950s.<\/p>\n “Yes, it is true,” he added. “I will be 45 and keep racing. If one day I feel not motivated, or feel I’m not fast, or not sharp, I have a relationship with Aston very honest and I will be the first one to raise my hand and say, ‘I have maybe lost here or there’, and we will find solutions. <\/p>\n “I don’t see that coming for the next few years.”<\/p>\n As evidence, he reiterated the point he made after Sunday’s Japanese Grand Prix that it was “one of my best races ever”. And it took place five days ago.<\/p>\n Alonso even found time for a joke about the constant questions about his age as he added: “Lewis will have 40 years in January so maybe I will not be the only one 40-plus you will be talking about.”<\/p>\n The decision whether to stay in F1, he said, was more about whether he could still put up with the second-order aspects outside racing that he has never enjoyed.<\/p>\n “It was not the racing,” Alonso said. “Looking at the calendar, I was a little bit afraid that this would be heavy for me. There are all the commitments pre-season with the photo-shoots, car launch, all these things are quite demanding for drivers in general and. for me, in particular at this time in my career.<\/p>\n “So I said, ‘Let me go through that tough period as I call it, of marketing and media and things like that, and then that tough period of travelling and time zones and big plane (flights). If I feel I am not enjoying what I am doing, it is better to not keep racing. If I go through that and I love racing and all the rest is not heavy on me, I want to continue. Why not?’<\/p>\n “That was the first thing I wanted to clarify with myself.”<\/p>\n After that, Aston Martin’s relative competitiveness, its steady stream of upgrades so far this season, continuing growth as a team – with a new wind tunnel at their new factory coming on stream later this year – and the prospect of working again with Honda when the Japanese company becomes their engine partner in 2026, were enough to convince him it was the right place to be.<\/p>\n “My biggest concern or the bad side of driving was missing my family and not having a normal life or my own family at one point or whatever,” added Alonso. “But in this regard I said, ‘OK, let’s see year by year, month by month’.<\/p>\n “I spoke with my family. They will come more often to races. All of them are coming to Miami [in early May] now, my mother, my sister and my two nieces. <\/p>\n “We decide and plan to make some changes for the things I miss or the things that maybe worry me about keeping racing.<\/p>\n “F1 takes all your time. You have to give up everything in life for racing and I wanted to speak with myself to make sure I wanted to do so. <\/p>\n “Once I had done that, I sat with Aston and it was not too difficult. We both wanted the same, I wanted to keep racing with Aston Martin and they wanted to keep me, and when two parties want something at one point you reach an agreement.<\/p>\n “I am extremely excited to keep racing. I feel at home. It was also a sense of loyalty that I wanted to express to my team [who I joined] one year and half ago. <\/p>\n “We started together and we achieved so many things, so many highs in such a short period of time and I thought this was just the beginning.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n