Alonso 'will be the first one' to admit if he loses his edge with age

Fernando Alonso says he will be the first to admit if his performance drops off before the end of his new deal with Aston Martin that takes him into his mid-40s. Aston Martin signed Alonso to a new multi-year contract last week, with the Spaniard describing it as “the longest contract I’ve ever signed in my career”. With Alonso due to race for at least two more seasons after this as part of the deal, that will take him beyond his 45th birthday but he acknowledges there may come a point where he feels that he needs to revisit his decision to continue racing before that point. “Yes, it is true, I will be 45 or more, and keep racing,” Alonso said. “If one day I feel that I’m not motivated or I feel the race not in good shape or feel I’m not fast – maybe I go to one period of the season I feel not fast or I feel (not) really sharp into the things of the race itself or qualifying or whatever – I think I have the relationship with Aston to be very honest and I will be the first one to raise my hand and say ‘I have maybe lost here or there’ and we will find solutions. “But I don’t see that coming for the next few years. As I said in Japan probably one of my best races ever happened … so I’m feeling good, feeling strong, so I don’t feel any problem there. And Lewis will have 40 years next year in January, so on this I will not be the only one 40 plus that will talk, maybe there are more drivers.” Alonso says retirement was never a realistic option for him at the end of his current Aston Martin contract, that was due to expire at the end of this season, given how he felt he was performing. “Not really I think it never went to my mind retirement. Above all, I think when I stop Formula 1, I will race elsewhere, maybe Dakar or something like that. So for me, it’s very difficult to really think about a life without a steering wheel in my hands, that will never happen – or not in the short term. “But no, I think I had 99 percent confidence that I will keep racing next year. So retirement was not an option.”