Fernando Alonso insists continuing his success story with Aston Martin remains his priority amid the upheaval on the Formula 1 driver market for 2025.
However he also indicated he is prepared to consider changing teams next year following Lewis Hamilton’s decision to join Ferrari, which created a vacancy at Mercedes.
Toto Wolff, the Mercedes team principal who is weighing his options for who to place alongside George Russell next year, has previously ruled out working with Alonso. Mercedes’ last association with the two-times world champion was not a positive one.
Although Alonso won four races for McLaren when it was Mercedes’ factory team in 2007, his involvement in the ‘Spygate’ episode also brought about the team’s ejection from that year’s constructors’ championship and an unprecedented $100 million fine. “Fernando has some history with Mercedes and it was not always the best,” Wolff acknowledged in 2017 when asked if Alonso might ever be paired with Hamilton.
However Alonso senses Wolff’s calculation may have changed as Mercedes face the possibility of entering a world championship without a world champion among their drivers for the first time in their modern era. While continuing to stress his commitment to Aston Martin and the team’s obvious progress and potential, he also made it clear that if Wolff wants a world champion among his drivers next year, he has only one option.
Moreover, Alonso claimed, his credentials among world champions should not be underestimated.
“I’m aware of my situation, which is very unique,” he told media including RaceFans yesterday. “There are only three world champions on the grid and fast world champions, because in the past, maybe there were some world champions where they were not so committed to be fast.”
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Several champions have departed F1 over the past seasons, most recently Alonso’s predecessor at Aston Martin, Sebastian Vettel. The team made a significant step forward in 2023 when Alonso arrived in his place.
“I’m probably the only one available for ’25, so I have a good position,” Alonso continued. “But at the same time, when I make the decision, if I want to keep racing or not for the future, first and only talk that I will have at the beginning is with Aston Martin, because that will be my only one priority.”
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