Two years ago, Fernando Alonso set off one of the most glorious shitstorms in Formula 1 by unexpectedly leaving Alpine for Aston Martin. Now, it looks like he will once again be the first domino to fall in a series of silly season shenanigans. The Spaniard signed for two more years with Aston Martin today.
After an incredibly strong 2023 and a so far fairly decent 2024, Fernando Alonso has signed a new multi-year contract with Aston Martin. It’s a rare showing of solidarity from Alonso, who usually has no hesitation to walk out of a team. Take for example his switch to Aston Martin from Alpine in 2022. That created the by now infamous Piastri Saga at Alpine, which in one fell swoop left them without a veteran world champion and a promising young talent. Alonso deciding to stay on with Aston proves that he has a lot more faith in their prospects than in those of the other teams on the grid. It shows that the vision of Lawrence Stroll is working in Alonso’s mind. It shows that he believes the deal with Honda from 2026 onward is worth staying on for.
Silly Season is gearing up properly now
Alonso signing on for at least two more years means a couple of things. 1: We’re entering the awkward few months where Aston Martin is going to pretend like they’re not sure yet if they’re keeping Lance Stroll on for another year. 2: The seat at Aston Martin is closed off for drivers like Sainz and Tsunoda. And 3: The other teams now have one less driver to fight over.
Silly Season started early this year, with Norris and Leclerc signing early extensions on their contracts and Hamilton leaving Mercedes for Ferrari. Since then, it has been the calm before the storm as everyone waited for the next domino to fall. With twelve drivers without a confirmed seat for next year, it is looking like it will be a very interesting carousel. All it needed was a little push to move things along, and it’s very likely that Alonso just gave it that push.
With Alonso off the market, it means that Mercedes now has one less option to replace Lewis Hamilton. Alonso was reportedly in talks with Mercedes and he was on the shortlist of the German team. It means that Sainz has one less team to pick from, considering Aston Martin would have seemed like a very good option for him. It essentially means that the pressure is now on the rest of the drivers and teams to get a deal done quickly before the next domino falls. Two years ago, Alonso set things in motion by leaving a team. Now, he’s setting things in motion by staying on. And this will most likely only be the prelude to a lot of silly season moves in the coming weeks.
A moment of silence for Felipe Drugovich
Spare a thought for a moment though for Felipe Drugovich. The Brazilian won Formula 2 back in 2022 and in lieu of an open seat in F1, he signed on to become reserve driver for Aston Martin. But with Alonso now remaining for two more years, and Lance Stroll not going anywhere as long as his father still runs the team, it looks like Drugovich will not see the inside of a Formula 1 car any time soon. Alonso actually seems to have inadvertently confirmed this in the press release: “With Lance I am excited to see what else we can achieve together. This is only the beginning for this project and I am proud to be part of it.”
Felipe Drugovich has not participated in a racing series since becoming F2 champion in 2022.