Fernando Alonso aims for his third F1 title, eyeing Aston Martin’s resurgence, driven by his unmatched development skills.
Double F1 World Champion, World Endurance Champion, two-time winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona, Fernando Alonso boasts an extraordinary track record in motorsport.
The crowning achievement of his career would be securing a third F1 title, perhaps with Aston Martin F1 and Adrian Newey. Or by claiming the Triple Crown with a victory at the Indianapolis 500.
But at 43, has Fernando Alonso reached the limits of his driving skills? Can he truly add more to his impressive record?
“There are always things to achieve,” he told us.
Is he indeed aiming for a third title with Newey and Aston Martin F1 from 2026 onwards?
“Formula 1 is my priority right now. I would love to win the F1 World Championship with Aston Martin – that would be the pinnacle of my career and probably my life.”
However, the Spaniard has not forgotten other disciplines, like the Dakar. But has he given up on his dream of becoming the second driver, after Graham Hill, to win the Triple Crown?
“Winning the Dakar Rally is still on my wish list. The Indy 500, of course, but I’m not sure if I’ll do it again in the future – but the Dakar, I will. It would be unprecedented to win the Formula 1 World Championship, the Dakar Rally, and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.”
“It all comes down to the same thing: I always want to improve – getting better is the main driver of my career. I’m never satisfied with my current position. I want to be better tomorrow, and I want to be better next week and next month. That’s what’s kept me in the game for so long.”
The best development driver in the world?
To win a title in 2026, Fernando Alonso will need to provide the most precise feedback possible to Aston Martin F1’s technical team, now strengthened by the addition of Enrico Cardile and, of course, Adrian Newey.
His vast experience and adaptability have given Alonso a sharp and insightful perspective on every strength and weakness of an F1 car.
But how does Fernando Alonso identify the strengths and weaknesses of a car in just the first few laps? What kind of development driver can Newey rely on?
“You’re so focused on lap time, so focused on performance, that identifying the areas of the car you should prioritize to go faster isn’t that difficult. From the outside, when you see a race driver jump into a car and immediately say what needs to be improved, it’s hard to understand how they do that, but when you’re the one driving, you’re negotiating a corner, accelerating, the rear wheels spin, and you’re not progressing, so you know you need more traction, for example.”
“You feel the frustration of not exiting the corner quicker. Your natural instinct tells you exactly what the car needs to go faster, and you communicate that immediately to the engineers.”
“Early in your career, you just provide feedback while the team tests various things. Later in your career, because you’ve tested so many different changes – softer suspension, stiffer suspension, more rear downforce, less rear downforce, more camber, less camber – you develop an understanding of how the car will react to specific changes at a particular circuit under certain conditions.”
“You provide feedback on areas of the car that need improvement, but you’re also able to suggest the solution: ‘Do you remember when we tested the ride height at this level on this track in these conditions, and we immediately gained more traction? This feels exactly like that, and we need to make that kind of setup change.’”
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Alonso’s Ultimate Goal: F1 Glory with Aston Martin Team Alonso’s Ultimate Goal: F1 Glory with Aston Martin Team
