Fernando Alonso will remain at Aston Martin beyond this season after signing a "multi-year" deal with the Formula 1 team in England. Alonso, 42, a double world champion, agreed with Mercedes and Red Bull to replace Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, respectively.
and Aston Martin announced Thursday. In this statement, he said that the Spanish driver, whose current contract will expire at the end of the year, agreed to extend his contract.
"I'm here to stay," Alonso said in Aston Martin's press release. The team did not specify the exact length of the new deal.
Team principal Mike Krack said: “Securing Fernando's long-term future with Aston Martin is great news. "We have built a strong working relationship over the last 18 months and we share the same commitment to making this project a success."
"We have been in constant dialogue over the last few months and Fernando kept his word: he spoke to us first when he wanted to continue racing." Fernando showed that he believes in us, and we believe in him. Fernando is hungry for success, drives better than ever, is fitter than ever and is fully committed to making Aston Martin a competitive force.
“This multi-year agreement with Fernando takes us to 2026, when we will begin our power unit partnership with Honda. We look forward to creating more incredible memories and achieving more success together.”
Alonso, who will be the first pilot to participate in 400 races, will be the best name to win 32 F1 races. Both Mercedes, which was looking for a name to replace Hamilton, who went to Ferrari, and Red Bull, who stated that Verstappen was uncomfortable with the team exposed to the scandal, were always following Alonso's next move.
However, the Spaniard will enter at least his third season with Aston Martin and the team's ambitious owner, Lawrence Stroll, is determined to turn the Silverstone-based team into a championship contender.
Alonso won the last of his two world titles in 2006. He failed to achieve racing success for over a decade. However, he is still one of the stars of the F1 field! He is very helpful because he helped Aston Martin go from second place to leading last year. He reached the podium eight times and finished fourth in the drivers' championship.
After the first four races of the current season, Alonso sits eighth in the standings, having achieved a season-best fifth place finish in Saudi Arabia.