Fernando Alonso wants to be in the running for the world championship again with Aston Martin: If this mission fails in 2026, it’s over for the Spaniard, believes Juan Pablo Montoya
Unbelievable: 24 years ago, Juan Pablo Montoya and Fernando Alonso made their Formula 1 debut together in Melbourne’s Albert Park!
But while Montoya started out with the then top team BMW-Williams, but only stayed in Formula 1 for five and a half years, Alonso, despite a stuttering start with backbencher Minardi, went on to win two world titles – and is still competing in the premier class at the ripe old age of 43.
“It’s incredible,” says Montoya, who reveals with regard to Alonso: ‘Whenever I see him, I make a joke and say, ’What are you doing? Are you crazy?’” Montoya himself demonstrated that motorsport at the highest level is not a problem at an advanced age: in 2015, he won the Indy 500 for the second time and finished runner-up in the IndyCar series that same year – shortly before his 40th birthday.
“Fernando will be putting a lot of pressure on this year”
He still believes that anything is possible for Alonso, especially since the Spaniard now seems to have all the ingredients for a successful future at Aston Martin: “With Newey in the team, with Honda in the team, he won’t want to leave,” Montoya told Oddspedia. With the best will in the world, he cannot imagine that Alonso, who has extended his contract with the green team for the long term, will soon hang up his helmet.
However, there is one exception: “If 2026 goes badly for the team, I think Fernando will quit,” explains Montoya. The new regulations represent a great opportunity for Aston Martin, with a new line-up and factory, to get involved in the battle of the top teams. If he fails, Alonso, who will be 45 in the summer of 2026, may simply run out of time.
“In ‘26 and ’27, he is already at the limit of the years he can still be in F1, actually already at the edge of that limit, so I think he says, ‘If the car is not competitive, then that’s it’.” Conversely, however, this means that Alonso will do everything he can in the upcoming season to prepare Aston Martin for next year and his possibly last chance:
“I think Fernando will be pushing very hard this year, he will be working very hard to make sure that Aston Martin is in a position to challenge for the title in 2026,” said Montoya. In twelve months at the latest, everything will be on the line for Alonso…
