Double Formula 1 world champion Fernando Alonso has ended months of speculation about his future by confirming he will stay with Aston Martin for the 2027 season. On Tuesday, the team released a video in which the Spaniard declared: "I will retire from F1... but not yet."
"I'm very happy to sign a new contract with the Aston Martin Aramco Formula 1 Team," Alonso said. At 45 — and turning 46 next year — he will remain comfortably the oldest driver of the modern era, though still nine years shy of Louis Chiron's all-time record.
Lance Stroll has been confirmed alongside him for 2027. "Lance and Fernando have been a crucial part of our journey and we are very pleased to confirm that they will continue with us into the next chapter for the team," team owner Lawrence Stroll said.
The 2026 season has been a bruising one for the Silverstone outfit. An underpowered and unreliable Honda power unit has left Aston Martin with just three points for the entire year — all scored by Alonso — after both cars retired from the recent Azerbaijan Grand Prix. Yet Alonso chose to stay.
His decision came after extensive conversations with team principal Adrian Newey, widely regarded as the greatest technical mind in F1 history. Newey, who joined Aston Martin in 2024, is the long-term project Alonso has pinned his faith on. At Zandvoort, Alonso delivered a ninth-place finish that proved he still has the hunger, fight and speed to compete at the front.
The Spaniard himself acknowledged the role his newborn son Leonard, born earlier this year, played in his thinking: another season on the grid meant another year his son could watch him do what he loves.
With these confirmations, the 2027 grid is nearing completion. Just four seats remain: two at Haas, where Ollie Bearman is the favourite to stay, and one at Red Bull or Racing Bulls. The driver market is effectively closed for the majority of the field.
Alonso, who always said his future depended on the feeling behind the wheel, has decided that feeling is still there. And with Newey driving the technical programme, Aston Martin is betting that the best is yet to come.
Sources
https://www.crash.net/f1/news/1105890/1/fernando-alonso-ends-f1-retirement-speculation-new-aston-martin-deal https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/analysis-why-alonso-is-staying-at-aston-martin-and-what-it-means-for-the-2027-grid.2b7yrPKHBN8kcLMJy5PbFa
