“It was straightforward,” got here Alonso’s clear response. “I believe it didn’t change a lot from once we spoke in February on the automobile launch. I wanted a number of races, or a number of weeks, to essentially take into consideration myself, if I used to be able to commit [to] extra years in F1, as a result of the calendars are just a bit bit extra intense now, the automobiles as nicely, the dedication.
“My love for F1 and my love for Aston Martin didn’t change, however I simply needed this time to essentially converse with myself and make the choice and the dedication. Clearly, F1 takes all of your time, all of your power, you must quit principally all the things in life to maintain racing, and I needed to simply converse with myself [to see] if I used to be prepared to take action.
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“As soon as I took the choice, I believe it was after Australia or one thing like that, I sat with Aston, which once more is strictly the identical as what I stated in February, that it is going to be my first precedence. It was not too troublesome. I believe we each needed the identical; I needed to maintain racing with Aston Martin, Aston Martin needed additionally to maintain my within the seat.
“When two events need one thing at one level you attain an settlement, so I’m extraordinarily excited to maintain racing and to maintain racing with this group, which I really feel at residence [with]. It was additionally a way of loyalty that I needed to specific to my group. I felt that is only the start of the journey… it couldn’t be the tip of the journey for me and Aston Martin.”
Pushed on whether or not he thought of retirement whereas weighing up the calls for of travelling around the globe, the varied advertising and marketing commitments, media duties and all the things else that goes with being an F1 driver, Alonso stated: “Probably not. I believe it by no means went to my thoughts, retirement. I had 99% confidence that I’ll preserve racing subsequent 12 months, so retirement was not an choice.”
