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Sad irony as veteran’s new deal, billionaire’s son stall flailing F1 team
The completely unsurprising news that Aston Martin has handed a one-year extension to 45-year-old Fernando Alonso for the 2027 Formula 1 season leaves fans asking a fair question: is this team getting it right?
Their 2026 campaign has been worse than lacklustre, it has been undeniably bad.
Aston Martin have struggled in their 2026 campaign. Icon Sportswire via Getty Images
A recent double DNF in Baku only highlighted the team’s desperate struggle to find their footing with the 2026 chassis and their new Honda power unit.
Yet, while everything else within the organisation seems to be shifting, they’ve stubbornly retained the exact same driver line-up of Alonso and Lance Stroll.
In F1, usually the best thing to do when you’re starting from the ground up is to revamp the entire garage, including your driver line-up.
Instead, Aston Martin is doubling down on the grid’s oldest veteran and one of its most criticised characters.
The on-track frustrations are palpable.
“We’re really struggling on the engine side. We know that, so a lot of work to be done,” Stroll said of the new engine package.
“I think the car is going to get a lot better. We have a plan, a good direction. We know what we have to do to put downforce on the car and all that stuff.
“I think the big question mark’s the engine. We don’t know how we’re going to be in the beginning of ’27, so we’ll see. But yeah, excited for another trip around the world.
“We’re missing two seconds in engines, so it’s difficult. Places like Baku and Monza, when you’re missing two seconds in engine, there’s not much you can do.”
When you boil it down, Aston Martin is plagued by a dual crisis of a shocking lack of pace from one side of the garage, and a fragile car on the other. And maintaining this status quo is coming at a hefty price.
According to recent company accounts, Golden Eagle Racing Limited - which is essentially Lance Stroll’s personal business entity - was compensated $12.2 million for the 2025 season.
On the other side of the garage, Aston Martin spends an estimated $31.7 million on Alonso with approximately $20 million of that serving as an annual retainer, with performance bonuses, points payouts and image rights extra.
So, it is easy to grumble about Alonso occupying a highly-paid seat that could go to a promising rookie, or to argue that it’s delusional for him to keep battling in machinery so far from the top step of the podium.
Aston Martin did not switch up their driver line-up. AP
With only one rookie on the grid this year, Arvid Lindbald and no clear debutants lined up for 2027, save perhaps for F2 graduate Rafael Camara eyeing Esteban Ocon’s vacant seat, it is becoming increasingly difficult for young talent to break into F1.
But to focus solely on grid bottlenecks is to potentially miss the point of Alonso’s longevity.
Whether or not you are a fan of the Spaniard, you have to respect the boundless energy of one of the most fiercely competitive beasts ever to strap into a racing car.
“I still feel competitive and I feel that fire inside when I’m at the race weekend – I feel happier,” Alonso explained of signing his new deal.
“If I’m sitting on the couch, watching F1 will be very difficult for me at the moment because I feel the need of being behind the wheel. The moment didn’t arrive yet.”
Still, the irony is difficult to ignore.
Alonso runs a junior academy designed to elevate young drivers into top motorsport categories, all while refusing to vacate the very seats they are fighting for.
