Fernando Alonso claims Aston Martin being competitive in 2026 would actually make the idea of retirement from Formula 1 at the end of that same year more palatable.
Billionaire Lawrence Stroll has acquired F1 design genius Adrian Newey, invested in a state-of-the-art F1 factory with a new brand-new windtunnel that came online earlier this year, and secured a works Honda engine for 2026.
Even if the team is currently seventh in the constructors' championship in 2025, expectations are high for 2026 and Alonso is best-placed to benefit from those Aston Martin improvements.
He's been a clear step ahead of team-mate Lance Stroll across their two and a half seasons together, so if Aston Martin starts 2026 at the front it would surely be Alonso who is spearheading it.
But there has long been a question of what happens to Alonso beyond that - and now, interestingly, via a brilliantly candid interview on Aston Martin's own website, we've been given a further hint of his plans.
'Hard to give up'
Alonso previously stated he'll be treating the 2026 F1 season like it's his last, even if he hasn't decided whether he wants to continue into 2027 and beyond.
This was put to Alonso and whether it changes if Aston Martin has a car capable of challenging for victories.
"If you win, do you end on a high and ride off into the sunset? Because you've waited so long for this moment, Fernando, to have a car that can fight for victory, would it be hard to walk away if you were finally in that 'checkmate' position?" was the question put to Alonso.
After a pause, he replied: "I have thought about it...
"But I will leave the decision for next year, and also how the team is in that moment and what they need from me.
"I'm open to helping the team as much as I can. It's not about me now. I don't need to keep racing. I'm just here to help Aston Martin become world champions, whether that's with me behind the wheel or without me behind the wheel, that's the main purpose of this second chapter of my career.
"And yeah, I said I thought about it. If things go well, I think it's a very good moment to stop because, as you said, I've been chasing a competitive car and a competitive racing for many, many years, and if I have that I think it's a very good way to close my career.
"Let's say that if we are competitive, there is more chance that I stop. If we are not competitive, it will be very hard to give up without trying again."
Alonso's reference to "whether that's with me behind the wheel or without me behind the wheel" is consistent with his messaging since his shock move to Aston Martin for 2023.
When he first signed from Alpine, Alonso made it clear that moving to Aston Martin was part of a long-term project that could transition into a phase where he's working for it in a non-driving capacity.
Alonso's claim is that it would be tougher to give up a non-competitive Aston Martin seat - but flip that around, and it wouldn't be a stretch to infer Alonso is claiming that it would be easier to give up a competitive Aston Martin seat.
This feels counterintuitive for any racing driver, let alone one who has been battling to get back into race-winning machinery, having gone 12 years without an F1 race win.
But it's tempting to wonder that 44-year-old Alonso, as ever, is highly switched on to the reality of what happens if his 2026 Aston Martin is competitive.
Why Alonso might walk away
With every big piece of the puzzle Lawrence Stroll has added - whether it be the Honda deal or the Newey signing - Aston Martin has increasingly become an attractive destination for any top driver.
Max Verstappen is sticking with Red Bull for 2026, but there's every chance his head could be turned for 2027, depending on how the field stacks up in early 2026 and whether any performance clauses in his contract aren't met.
Even if there isn't the most reliable benchmark alongside him, there's near-universal agreement that Alonso is still performing at a very high level.
But time isn't on his side. He might argue he's as fast as the top F1 teams' (unofficial) number one drivers - for argument's sake, let's say Verstappen, Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri and George Russell - but he certainly isn't younger than them.
There's always going to be the question of when Alonso will hit that age-related decline, even if he's kept it at bay for longer than any other modern-day F1 driver.
He's certainly not a driver you can build a long-term project around as much as someone like Verstappen or Leclerc.
So Alonso's very much at risk of being replaced when his contract expires at the end of 2026, given it's highly unlikely that Lance Stroll would be the one to be moved aside.
Obviously, Aston Martin being more competitive in 2026 will increase the likelihood of that happening because Alonso fighting at the front in the early part of 2026 would be a very good way for him to advertise for his own job.
So you could argue that Alonso's acceptance that it's easier to walk away from a more competitive Aston Martin is simply him recognising the reality of his situation.
In that case, he would at least end his F1 career in competitive machinery, getting one shot at it before inevitably he's replaced by a longer-lasting centrepiece. Or perhaps he could even dream of not being the one to have to move aside?
But certainly, the most likely scenario at this point feels as though if Aston Martin starts 2026 at the front, there will be plenty of younger, top-line drivers vying to replace him.
Alonso approaching things this way means he can somewhat control the narrative. You'd have to imagine, out of respect for the years Alonso has put into helping build Aston Martin up, that the team would allow him to frame any potential 'Alonso replaced by top-line F1 driver X' narrative as 'Alonso opts to move to non-racing role, top-line F1 driver X joins'.
But what if Aston Martin isn't competitive in 2026; does this stance hint at a third option for 2027?
One last dice roll?
If Aston Martin is no more competitive at the start of 2026 than it is now, then perhaps Alonso has a decent chance of staying.
And if he's still motivated to end his career on a high, why wouldn't he stick around for 2027 to give the team another try? After all, Honda plus Newey plus world-beating facilities feels like a combination that should yield something special at some point. Even if the likes of Toyota prove that massive investment doesn't always equal F1 success.
But there's still a chance another driver sees that potential even if the Alonso-driven 2026 results aren't anything special.
So the interesting question is, what would Alonso do then?
If it's "hard to give up" on F1 when you've spent 2026 in an uncompetitive car, but Alonso is replaced anyway, might he look for one last shot somewhere else?
A fourth Enstone stint may seem ridiculous but, with a customer Mercedes engine and Flavio Briatore's return, maybe it would be worth one last roll of the dice. You'd have to imagine Alpine would struggle to attract anybody better, and Alonso would back himself to overcome Pierre Gasly.
And who knows, in the ensuing driver market chaos that the likely major pecking order shift at the start of 2026 could trigger, there could be opportunities for Alonso to snag a decent opportunity.
He's repeatedly spoken of viewing Aston Martin as a long-term project and perhaps he really will have the romantic end of a competitive 2026 season behind the wheel that lays the groundwork for someone else to have an even more successful 2027 with support from Alonso in a non-driving role.
Or maybe this is the first hint that Alonso still won't be done with F1, even if someone else takes his prized Newey/Honda seat.
