05 January 2024 , 07:00
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Fernando Alonso says he will use his 2024 performances and results to gauge whether he is ready to retire from Formula 1.
But he insists that, for now, he is not considering hanging up his racing overalls. After all, he has just enjoyed one of the best seasons of his entire career.
Joining Aston Martin was seen as a risk, but the first year of their partnership provided plenty of evidence that it has paid off. Alonso stood on the podium eight times across 2023 and finished in the top four of the drivers' standings for the first time in a decade.
At the age of 42, he has shown no signs yet that he is slowing down. However, a 24-race calendar for the 2024 season - never before has F1 held so many races in a single year - will be the biggest test yet of Alonso's fitness.
As it stands, the Spaniard plans to continue racing in F1 and for Aston Martin beyond the next 12 months. And he insists he will be the first person to admit when his time is up.
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"Next year, I'll see what 24 races feel like," he told Auto Motor und Sport. "If I have the feeling that I'm no longer able to perform, that I expect from myself, I will be the first to raise my hand... [but] the moment has not yet come."
Alonso has already walked away from the sport once, after the 2018 season following an underwhelming second spell with McLaren. He returned in 2021 with Alpine after two years competing in other motorsport series, including appearances in the World Endurance Championship, the Indy 500 and the Dakar Rally.
Historically, drivers have found it tough to succeed in F1 after spending time out of the sport. Even the great Michael Schumacher managed just one podium in the three years he spent driving for the new Mercedes team between 2010 and 2012.
Alonso managed it once with Alpine, in Qatar in 2021, and hoped to be able to repeat the trick after switching to Aston Martin. Even he could not have imagined the amount of success he experienced in 2023 as the Silverstone-based team made great strides in terms of car competitiveness.
He said: "If I'm honest, I expected myself to be in the points in 80 percent of the races, 50 to 60 percent in Q3 and, if I was lucky, maybe on the podium once. With two Red Bulls, two Mercedes and two Ferraris, a place in the top three seemed like a mission impossible to me."