F1 News
Is Briatore revealing a secret? 'I think Alonso will quit F1 on that date'
Now 43 years old, Fernando Alonso is by far the oldest F1 driver in the field. For now, the Spaniard is not saying goodbye to the sport, as a few months ago he extended his commitment with Aston Martin for two seasons. What happens next? It is written in the stars, although his manager, Flavio Briatore, has an inkling.
"If you ask me if Fernando wants to continue after we finish in the contract, our last year will be 2026 for the moment," Briatore said on the podcast Formula for Success. However, the Italian, recently an advisor to Alpine, is keeping a guard up, as he too sees Alonso performing at the top level on a weekly basis - despite his advanced age for an F1 driver.
'Alonso still as fit and motivated as ever'
"Does he want to continue for one more year," Briatore then asks himself aloud? "I don’t know, honestly, if he wants to stop with 2026 as his last year or if he wants to go ahead. Honestly, I don’t know. It depends on the feeling he has about racing and the timing, I don’t know if he’ll have a family at the time and whatever."
In any case, it would never be down to his motivation and physical condition, according to Briatore. The Italian and Alonso have been working together for 22 years and according to the former, the Spaniard can be compared in those areas to a young driver just entering the sport.
This article has been written in collaboration with Matt Gretton