Fernando Alonso, 45, Returns For Another F1 Season After FIA President Begged Him To Stay

With 16 retirements and only three points scored over 15 races, it's been a brutal year so far for the Aston Martin F1 team. No one would question it if an aged veteran decided to retire, but we'll have to wait another year. Fernando Alonso announced on Tuesday that he will be returning for the 2027 season with the struggling outfit. With the Spaniard turning 46 next July, he'll be the oldest F1 world champion to start a race since Graham Hill in 1975. Before you ask, Lance Stroll will also be back next year. Aston Martin will retain the same driver lineup for the fifth consecutive season

A message from Fernando. pic.twitter.com/4qbPIoQRCe

— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) September 29, 2026

Alonso hinted last year that the 2026 season would be his last if Aston Martin's car was competitive. It hasn't been. Regardless, he stated earlier this year will "probably" be his last F1 race in Barcelona. The will-he-won't-he speculation finally ended with an announcement designed to draw parallels with Sebastian Vettel's retirement video with Aston Martin in 2022. Alonso stated to the camera:

"It took me a little bit of time to make my decision, but now I have things very clear in my mind. I will retire from Formula 1... but not yet. I still feel fast, motivated, and have a huge passion for Formula 1 and for the sport. I'm so happy to keep racing in the highest category. It is my life."

Alonso's desire to go out on a high is a sentiment shared by FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. The divisive president-for-life stated at the New Economic Forum in Madrid earlier this month that he met with Aston Martin team owner Lawrence Stroll and will make changes to help the team improve. Just the premise of the governing body's chief changing the rules to help a specific team and prevent someone from retiring is ridiculous. According to the Associated Press, he said:

"There is no way we can allow Fernando, a great champion, to leave ... because of the circumstances. That's not the way to leave the stage. He has to be successful, and then he leaves whenever he wants. (But) not because he was forced to leave because of the performance."

There are a few levers that Ben Sulayem can pull to help push Aston Martin up the grid. F1 and the FIA introduced a mechanism called Additional Development and Upgrade Opportunities (ADUO) to complement this season's new power unit regulations. Power unit manufacturers with the lowest internal combustion engine horsepower output are allowed extra upgrade opportunities and a higher cost cap to help shrink the gap to the front.

The FIA said it was open to tweaking the ADUO mechanism after Red Bull was judged to have the best ICE and front-running Mercedes was granted a power unit upgrade. The obvious flaw is that an ICE is only one component of the hybrid power unit. Tweaking evaluations is one thing, but changing how upgrades are allocated could invite abuse. Aston Martin is the only team using Honda's power unit, so any change that benefits the Japanese engine program would benefit only Aston Martin.