Fernando Alonso’s New Contract Ruins 23-Year-Old Aston Martin Prodigy’s F1 Career

With a revamped F1 career, Fernando Alonso looks like an upgrade of his championship-winning self. The Spaniard has signed his “longest contract ever” with Aston Martin, entrusting Lawrence Stroll & Co. to steer him towards a 3rd World Championship. This locks him in with the Silverstone-based team for at least 2 years, if not more. Unfortunately, this has nearly ended the F1 career of Aston Martin’s 23-year-old talent.

With his billionaire father commanding Aston Martin, Lance Stroll has a guaranteed seat with the team for as long as he wants. Moreover, Alonso has finalized AMR as his retirement destination. Their current line-up is prepared to take the 2026 regulations head-on. This means, irrespective of the results, the duo will most likely continue into 2027, abreast of the new regulations.

This blocks Aston Martin’s reserve driver, Felipe Drugovich, from making his F1 debut anytime soon. The young Brazilian who won the 2022 F2 championship will be completely sidelined while other rookies like Oliver Bearman and Andrea Kimi Antonelli march on. According to BBC’s Andrew Benson, no other F1 team seems to be interested in Drugovich’s racing services as well.

“His options are to look elsewhere in the lower half of the grid and persuade a team owner to take a chance,” Benson wrote for BBC. “But he’s not a name you hear being discussed that much. Interest in him seems to be low in F1. He might be better advised pursuing a racing career elsewhere, such as IndyCar, Formula E, or endurance racing.“

This spells bad news for the Brazilian racing prodigy. Despite winning F2, his F1 dream hasn’t even begun. The only way Drugovich could’ve possibly landed the seat alongside Lance Stroll was if Alonso joined Red Bull or Mercedes. Interestingly, the 2-time champion has revealed that he discussed his future with other teams too before this renewal.

Fernando Alonso entered negotiations with Aston Martin’s rivals

Before Alonso’s official announcement of renewal with his current team, speculations about his future were rife. Even retirement was an option that he considered. Along with this, reports connected him with Red Bull and Mercedes, too. And those reports were true. The Spaniard has confirmed that he indeed checked out all his options before finalizing a renewal with AMR.

“I did speak with other people as well, yes,” he said after his contract renewal. “I think it’s normal when you enter negotiations, you need to balance a little bit [and ask] ‘what is the market?’ You need to listen to everyone else as well. It’s just a normal procedure, and I think it’s fair to listen to all the proposals and see how the market moves.”

If Christian Horner or Toto Wolff had made him an offer he couldn’t refuse, Drugovich too might have kick-started his F1 career. That move could’ve benefitted both drivers. But that isn’t how F1 or life works, is it?