RacingA project sold on new rules, a Honda works return, and an Adrian Newey car has opened with DNFs in Australia and China and P18 in Japan. Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin-Honda have started 2026 in a hole, and the 23-season veteran now says the next few months will decide if he stays in Formula 1 beyond this year.
This was meant to be the reset. The AMR26 arrived with a Newey-led design group and Honda power under a fresh regulations set. Instead, early technical problems with the power unit and the way it sits in the chassis have left the car slow on the straights, weak off the corners, and often stuck in the garage. It echoes some of Honda’s past pain in F1, even if the circumstances are different this time.
The results tell the story. Alonso retired in Australia, retired again in China, then slogged to 18th in Japan. Points have never felt so far away for him in green. Team voices have not pointed to a short-term fix, and there is no silver bullet on the horizon. The calendar is long, though, which gives Aston Martin time to bring reliability steps and integration updates that could shift the picture later in the year.
Alonso’s contract runs out at the end of 2026, and he has made the timeline clear enough. How Aston Martin responds before the summer break will set his course. If the team finds power and balance and stops the failures, he has a path to continue. If not, retirement moves from topic to plan. He does not need convincing about his own level. He needs a car that lets him race near the front.
At 44 he has not lost speed. The instincts, the racecraft, the feel for changing grip are still there. What is not there is a platform to hunt that long-awaited 33rd win, 13 years after his last. Right now it looks distant. That is not a judgment on Alonso. It is the measure of a package that has not met its launch promise.
Fans are weighing in as well. RacingNews365 is polling readers on whether Alonso should call time at the end of the season, keep chasing success into 2027, or wait and judge Aston Martin’s mid-season gains before making the call. The votes will reflect the mood, but the decision rests where it always has. It sits with Alonso, and with what Aston Martin-Honda can deliver between now and August.