When Fernando Alonso retired at the end of the 2018 season, many of us thought, This is it. Alonso has suffered enough from teams not performing and is retiring with only 2 titles that he won at the start of his career. But everyone knew that with his skillset, he wasn’t finished, and made a comeback with Alpine and the then questionable move to Aston Martin. But the move paid off.

Now he has signed an extension with the team. But the reason to stay is the same $250 million reason why Aston Martin’s ambassador joined the team. After Sebastian Vettel left Aston Martin at the end of 2022, many put down Aston Martin’s huge project. That’s when the team signed Fernando Alonso, and since then, the team has been on the rise, signing some big sponsors and big names from other teams like Dan Fallows. 

Damon Hill, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast, talked about how Fernando Alonso’s signing shows faith in the Honda engine deal and also the new factory and the wind tunnel that will continue to improve the car’s performance. But this new factory and wind tunnel, which is supposed to cost $250 million, is the reason why Pedro De La Rosa signed for Aston Martin.

In a recent revelation, Pedro De La Rosa on the F1 Nation said, “Let’s be realistic, I signed for Aston Martin, also for a reason. I didn’t sign because Fernando was there. I just wanted to come into F1 and return with Aston Martin because I saw the project. I went to Silverstone, saw the new project, the new wind tunnel, and decided I want to be here.” 

It looks like Aston Martin is cooking something up with the new factory and the wind tunnel, for sure. 

Fernando Alonso on the Aston Martin extension: “It is a lifetime project”

Alonso was rumored to be in talks with Mercedes and Red Bull for a contract. However, the Spaniard suggested that he just had light talks with some teams and that there was nothing serious. On the other hand, Aston Martin made it clear that they wanted Alonso. In terms of the length of the contract, if it is the longest in his career, then it’ll be longer than the 4-year contract he signed at Ferrari. There might be a chance that Alonso only drives a couple and then becomes an ambassador.

Fernando Alonso, after signing the new contract, said, “It is a lifetime project for me in a way; this is the longest contract I’ve ever signed in my career. This is something that will keep me linked with Aston for many, many years to come. Let’s see which role, and let’s see how many more years I will drive. Even after driving, I will use 25+ years experience in F1, plus 10 or 15 outside F1 – so nearly 40 years of motorsport experience for the benefit of a team that gave me this opportunity now in this moment of my career.”

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Do you think Aston Martin made the right choice by signing Fernando Alonso, or should they have gone with someone like Carlos Sainz?