阿隆索决定留在F1再战一季，《The Race》给出评价
尽管在阿斯顿·马丁与本田合作的赛季收效甚微，费尔南多·阿隆索仍签约继续征战一级方程式。《The Race》的编辑认为他不得不留下，不会以这样一个赛季告别车坛。
尽管在阿斯顿·马丁与本田合作的赛季收效甚微，费尔南多·阿隆索仍签约继续征战一级方程式。
但在2027年及以后，他究竟能实现什么？
他必须留下。你不会在F1坚持到四十五岁左右，却以这样一个赛季告别车坛。
那么他还会留多久？期待阿斯顿·马丁下赛季就能挑战分站冠军无异于期待奇迹。但如果发展趋势正确，性能提升显著，我能预见这会给阿隆索足够的信心将合同延至2028年。
我无法想象他内心深处真的相信另一个冠军还在他的未来之中。阿斯顿·马丁和本田在新规则实施的第一年领先所有人是唯一可能实现这一点的机会，而我一直觉得这个机会很渺茫。
现在，我认为他的目标只是再次做出一些值得铭记的事情。如果他在2023年那段巅峰期里那么多登台中哪怕赢下一场比赛，我想他现在早就离开了。只要再多一场胜利，他坚持这么久的决定就完全说得通了。
如果阿斯顿·马丁能在2027年就恢复到2023年那样的水准，我会感到意外。但如果它多少能成为逼近四大车队的竞争者，我可以想象这足以说服阿隆索在明年之后继续留下。
原则上，阿隆索留在F1显然比离开要好。但如果是为这样的局面而浪费他的才华和时间，我看不出有什么意义——所以阿斯顿·马丁和本田面临着巨大的压力，必须证明他重新做出的承诺是值得的。
当然，阿隆索的付出会得到极其丰厚的回报。所以对他的处境能给予的同情也是有限的！我只是更希望看到他在一个能争夺前列的地方比赛，用他的天赋让我们眼前一亮，因为像巴库那样的糟糕日子，对所有人来说都是一种煎熬。
但他很可能认为这值得一搏，最后一次押上骰子，尤其是他目前正处于非常有利的谈判位置。
你可以说阿斯顿·马丁并不需要他这种水准的车手，因为就目前而言，车手远不是限制车队表现的因素。所以由谁来驾驶赛车，对车队的竞争前景并没有实质性的影响。
但仅凭面子这一点，阿斯顿·马丁也会希望自己的项目挂上一个顶级名号，而在这方面阿隆索是唯一的选择。眼下没有其他车手愿意冒险加盟，所以阿隆索深知，没有人会给他带来真正争夺他席位的压力。
这意味着他可以开价等钱，并且在那里等着——如果（这是个很大的“如果”）事情真的在他最终决定受够了、转身离开之前谈成的话。
从竞技角度来看，我觉得这个结果没什么令人满意的——阿隆索留在了一支车队（以及发动机制造商）那里，而这支车队冲击前列的时间表与他的似乎错位；其整个赛季乏善可陈，车手搭档也年复一年地是一边倒的较量。2027年我们几乎不可能对阿隆索或斯特罗尔有任何新的了解，而阿隆索想要增加自己两个F1世界冠军、甚至很可能包括他的32个F1分站冠军的可能性，几乎是天文数字般的渺茫。
但除非你谈论的是掠夺性的资本积累，看到数字能涨到多高，确实有一种可以理解的满足感。440场起步——那为何不来个470场？46岁还在比赛——那为何47岁不行？
这也很酷，还因为阿隆索是凭实力留下的，不仅靠明星光环，更靠表现。他仍然是一位非常出色的F1车手。他永远不会接到顶级车队的召唤——包袱太多，而且近年缺少与一位有实力的队友真实较量的战绩——但他配得上阿斯顿·马丁给他的价值。
我觉得这有点像勒布朗·詹姆斯，但勒布朗每年都能打进NBA季后赛，而阿斯顿·马丁今年的车连附加赛球队都算不上。所以……这其实更像是詹姆斯·米尔纳，对吧？
阿隆索再留一年完全说得通。他已经熬过了最艰难的岁月，而阿斯顿·马丁与本田的合作希望今年就是这段合作的最低谷。
正如他职业生涯中多次见到的那样，在错误的时机离开车队，就有可能眼睁睁看着别人趁虚而入，收割他辛勤付出带来的成果。
为了开上一辆由阿德里安·纽维设计的赛车，他已经等了这么久。他肯定还想要至少一辆，尤其是今年的第一辆在研发概念阶段就被严重掣肘。
纽维的车队能够在底盘方面取得巨大进步——只需看看摩纳哥（A规格）与匈牙利（B规格）之间的相对差距——这将让他对2027年再进一步抱有希望。
所以不要认为相信阿斯顿·马丁明年能拥有前四名之外最好的赛车是不切实际的。
但问题是，它是否拥有一台足够强大的本田动力单元来配得上那台赛车呢？
我认为这对双方来说可能都是正确的结果。是的，阿隆索讨厌2026年的引擎，但他会知道随着2027年和2028年规则调整的到来——以及如果他坚持到更远的未来——最糟糕的阶段已经过去了。
此外，本田明年有巨大的潜力实现大步跃进，因为它将根据国际汽联的ADUO追赶机制获得额外的研发投入，即使这套机制可能会经历改革。
阿隆索目前仍保持着极高的驾驶水准，尽管由于他的队友实力存疑，我们无法准确判断这一水准到底有多高，但可以肯定的是，阿斯顿·马丁和本田眼下要解决的问题远比车手阵容要大得多。
就目前而言，阿隆索已经是这支车队现实中能招到的最高水准的车手了。我想他对此心知肚明，并在谈判中把这一点当作自己的筹码，反复威胁要彻底退出F1。
正如他在阿斯顿·马丁的官方新闻稿中所说，他“非常高兴签下一份新合同”，而不只是延长现有合同，所以我可以想象，他利用了自己对2026年项目进展众所周知的失望情绪，为自己争取到了更好的报酬——与此同时，他不得不思考要在发车榜尾部或附近继续浪费自己F1生涯的暮年时光，至少目前是如此。
阿斯顿·马丁应该考察的是引擎，而不是车手
实际上，他们还能签下谁呢？
斯特罗尔是板上钉钉的，因为他爸爸在出钱。而阿隆索热爱竞争——而且我认为他现在意识到，如果他想继续参赛，已经别无去处。他仍然能做出不错的表现，但我很确定，在50岁之前他是拿不到第三个世界冠军了。
对阿斯顿·马丁来说，把两人都留下，尤其是阿隆索，至少能保持连续性。
现在最大的问题是“他们会不会离开本田？”，如果会，会转投哪家厂商。我觉得大家不妨拭目以待。
费尔南多·阿隆索在一级方程式的长久生涯令人惊叹。他是一位非凡的车手，他的数据并不能完全体现他的实力，而他愿意在这个水平上坚持这么久，承受这一切所带来的种种，无论这是否是正确的决定，都令人敬佩。
到本赛季结束时，他自2021年重返阿尔派开始的“第二段”一级方程式生涯，其时长将等同于2001年至2007年那段时期——那期间他赢得了两个世界冠军，并在他的32场分站冠军中拿下了19场。他的决心令人惊讶，因为尽管他拿到的高额薪水无疑是吸引力的一部分，但要在顶级水平上坚持这么久，需要极大的投入与奉献。
会有人抱怨他占了一个本应属于更年轻车手的席位，或者认为在阿斯顿·马丁这样距离赢分站还相差甚远的车队继续坚持是不切实际的幻想。但这并不是重点。无论你是否是阿隆索的车迷，你都必须尊重这位有史以来最具拼劲的竞争猛兽之一的无限能量。
毕竟，不知道何时放弃正是任何伟大冠军心理构成中的关键要素。
英文原文
A largely fruitless season at Aston Martin-Honda hasn't deterred Fernando Alonso from signing up for another season in Formula 1.
But what can he realistically achieve in 2027 and beyond?
He had to stay. You don't stick around in F1 until your mid-40s to then bow out with a season like this one.
So how much longer does he stay for? To expect Aston Martin to challenge for wins next season would be to expect a miracle. But if the trajectory is right, and the jump in performance is significant, I can see it giving Alonso enough faith to extend into 2028.
I can't imagine that deep down he truly believes another championship is in his future. Aston Martin and Honda getting the jump on everyone in the first year of the new rules was the only chance of that happening, and I always felt that chance was slim.
Now, I reckon the goal is to just do something noteworthy again. Had he won a race among all those podiums during that purple patch in 2023, I think he'd be gone by now. The decision to stick it out for so long would have been justified by just one more win.
I'd be surprised if Aston Martin can be 2023-good again as soon as 2027. But if it can somehow be the team knocking on the door of the big four teams, I can see that being enough to convince Alonso to stay beyond next year.
In principle it's obviously better for Alonso to be in F1 than out of it. But I don't see the point in him wasting his ability and his time when it's for this - so there's massive pressure for Aston Martin and Honda to justify his renewed commitment.
Alonso will be extremely well compensated for his time, of course. So there's a limit to the sympathy his situation is afforded! I'd just rather watch him race somewhere he can be at the front and dazzle us with his talent, because the bad days - like Baku - are just painful for everyone.
But he could well view this as worth one last roll of the dice, especially as he's in a great negotiating position.
You could argue Aston Martin doesn't need a driver of his calibre given the drivers are a long way from being a limiting factor right now. So it makes no meaningful difference to its competitive prospects who is behind the wheel.
But vanity alone is a reason why Aston Martin will want a top name attached to its project and Alonso's the only option in this regard. Nobody else will gamble just now, so Alonso knows there's no real pressure for someone to claim his seat.
That means he can name his price and be there waiting if - and it's a big if - it does actually come together before he finally decides enough's enough and walks away.
From a competitive standpoint, I see little satisfaction in this outcome - Alonso stays at a team (and engine manufacturer) whose timeline for frontrunning seems misaligned with his, whose season has been wholly uninteresting and whose driver pairing is a one-sided contest year after year. We are highly unlikely to learn anything new about Alonso or Stroll in 2027, and Alonso is astronomically unlikely to add to his two F1 titles or, likely, to his 32 F1 wins.
But, unless you're talking about predatory capital accumulation, there is certainly an understandable satisfaction to seeing just how high a number can go. 440 starts - well, why not 470? Racing at 46 - well, why not at 47?
It's quite cool, also because Alonso is sticking around on merit, not just in star power but in performance. He is still a very good F1 driver. He will never get a call to a top F1 team - too much baggage, not enough of a recent record of competition against a credible team-mate - but he is worth his value to Aston Martin.
I'd say it's a bit LeBron James-esque but LeBron makes the NBA playoffs every year, while this year's Aston Martin isn't even a 'play-in' team. So... it's a bit like James Milner, isn't it?
Alonso sticking around for another year makes total sense. He's done the hard yards in what Aston Martin-Honda hopes will be the nadir of the partnership.
As he's seen plenty of times in his career, leaving the team at the wrong time risks letting someone else swoop in and reap the benefits of his hard work.
He's waited this long for an Adrian-Newey-designed car. He'll want at least one more of them, especially when the first this year was so heavily compromised in the conception phase.
The huge improvement Newey's team was able to make with the chassis - just look at the relative difference between Monaco (A-spec) and Hungary (B-spec) - will give him hope of another step forward in 2027.
So don't think it's unrealistic to believe Aston Martin could have the best car outside of the top four next year.
But the question is, will it have a strong enough Honda power unit to do that car justice?
I think this is probably the right outcome for both parties. Yes, Alonso hates the 2026 engines, but he'll know the worst of that is behind him with the rule tweaks coming for 2027 and '28 - and beyond if he gets that far.
Plus, Honda has so much potential to make giant strides forward next year with the extra development spend it's going to get under the FIA's ADUO catch-up mechanism, even if that system undergoes reform.
Alonso's still driving at a very high level and, although we don't know precisely how high that level still is given the questionable pedigree of his team-mate, it's certainly the case that Aston Martin and Honda have far bigger problems to solve right now than the driver line-up.
Alonso is the highest calibre of driver that team can realistically attract right now. I imagine he knew this very well and played it to his advantage during negotiations, repeatedly threatening to quit F1 entirely.
As he said in Aston Martin's press release, he was "very happy to sign a new contract", not simply extend the existing one, so I should imagine he's leveraged his well-documented disappointment with where the project has stood in 2026 to gain better remuneration for himself - while he contemplates having to waste yet more of his twilight F1 career at or near the back of the grid, at least for the time being.
Aston should be scouting engines over drivers
In reality, who else could they get?
Lance is a sure thing because daddy is paying. And Fernando loves the competition - and I think he now realises that if he wants to continue he has nowhere else to go. He can still do a decent job but I’m pretty sure that third world championship won’t come his way this side of 50.
For Aston Martin keeping them both, especially Fernando, at least gives it continuity.
The big question now is ‘will they jump ship from Honda?’, and if so to who. I think watch this space.
Fernando Alonso's F1 longevity is astounding. He's a remarkable driver, one whose statistics don't do his ability justice, but to be willing to plug on at this level for so long with everything that entails is, regardless of whether or not it's the right decision, remarkable.
At the end of this season, his 'second' F1 career after returning with Alpine in 2021 will be as long as the span from 2001-2007 when he won two titles and 19 of his 32 grand prix wins. His determination is astonishing, as while doubtless the large paycheque he receives is part of the appeal, it takes enormous dedication to be able to carry on at the top level for so long.
There will be those who grumble about him taking up a seat that should go to a younger driver, or argue that it's delusional to keep battling on at Aston Martin given how far away it is from being in a position to win races. But that isn't the point. Whether or not you are a fan of Alonso, you must respect the boundless energy of one of the most vigorous competitive beasts who has ever driven a racing car.
After all, not knowing when to quit is a key component of the psychological make-up of any great champion.
The Race ·
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