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Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin are reportedly in the advanced stages of contract negotiations, with a new deal close to being agreed. Since joining the British outfit in 2023, Alonso has been the project’s driving force. Aside from securing 8 podiums in his first year, Alonso has also delivered most of Aston Martin’s points since his arrival. His presence was also essential in convincing Adrian Newey to lead the Silverstone-based squad for these new regulations. In recent months, Newey has emphasised that keeping Alonso is among his top priorities as team principal – and it appears a resolution is incoming. Alonso negotiates from position of strength Aston Martin Honda were one of the hottest topics across F1 news outlets during pre-season. The presence of senior figures like Adrian Newey and Enrico Cardile, state of the art development facilities, and a partnership with a title-winning engine manufacturer in Honda, were all seen as winning ingredients for the 2026 cars. Unfortunately for Aston, a variety of issues came to the surface in pre-season. Perhaps the most fundamental issue was a lack of co-ordination between the Silverstone factory and Honda’s personnel in Sakura – which Adrian Newey claimed had created a huge gap in understanding. Speaking of Newey, he only arrived at Aston Martin in March last year – meaning that Aston’s 2026 development was delayed by several months compared to other teams. This was compounded by additional issues with calibrating the team’s new wind tunnel and co-ordinating their direction for the new regulations. The first 10 rounds of the season were therefore extremely painful, as Aston Martin found themselves with an even slower package than newcomers Cadillac. However, a new update package in Hungary unlocked over 2 seconds for the AMR26 – which quite comfortably situated itself ahead of Cadillac, Williams and Haas on race day. This step forward has partially validated the potential of Aston Martin’s project – whilst also acting as encouragement for Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard has spoken extensively about his desire to continue racing beyond this year, but has been slightly more cryptic about his intentions in Formula 1. What has been explicitly clear, however, is that Alonso wanted to see improvement before making a decision on his future. With Budapest just the first of multiple scheduled updates, the 45-year-old seems satisfied with the direction of travel. Hungary package gives confidence Aston Martin’s development trajectory, specifically the Hungary updates, was going to be a key metric to demonstrate the effectiveness of the team’s wind tunnel correlation – and by extension their potential to climb the field. Although further upgrades are due in Zandvoort (both on the engine and aero side), Alonso is understood to have already been greatly encouraged by the team’s forward step in Budapest. Whilst podium finishes will likely be beyond reach in 2026, Aston aim to consistently fight for points after the summer break – creating a reasonable platform to begin attacking the front in 2027. For Alonso, genuine progression was the only thing necessary to kick-start contract discussions. After all, the Double World Champion wants to avoid a scenario where he leaves Aston Martin just before they put everything together and fight at the front. As it stands, Alonso’s current has a +1 year option on his existing deal, which he can activate to stay with Aston until the end of 2027. However, reporting from Marc Limacher’s Business Book GP suggests the 45-year-old is searching for a contract extension until 2028. Considering Alonso’s value to the team, it wouldn’t be a surprise if he capitalises on his leverage to secure a multi-year agreement on his terms. This could give him the flexibility to continue at Aston Martin for a few more years – depending on whether he believes their trajectory is promising enough. Given his consistently high level of performance, even in his mid-40s, Aston Martin are understood to have no reservations about keeping the #14 driver for another few seasons. If the AMR26 were more competitive, Lawrence Stroll’s team might have had more options in the driver market. Several big names were linked to Aston in pre-season – with the British team seen as an exciting alternative for any driver disillusioned by the established top four. However, the drivers at the top team will likely re-evaluate Aston as a plausible destination at this stage in 2027 – once again contingent on their rate of improvement. Of course, this story will evolve over the coming weeks. More clarity should emerge on the details and timeline of these negotiations. With that said, at least for now, the biggest question is how long Alonso will extend for – a stark contrast from the retirement speculations of previous weeks.