Fernando Alonso keen to extend Aston Martin stay with non-driving role

费尔南多-阿隆索希望他的新协会Aston Martin will continue beyond the end of his driving contract.

Along with some well-deserved chilling time, the 41-year-old Spaniard is spending the winter preparing for the start of the 2023 F1 campaign at a different team, for he is moving on toAston Martinafter two years at Alpine.

The double former World Champion was happier with what the Silverstone-based squad were offering him over a multi-year period, whereas Alpine had been readying Oscar Piastri to take Alonso’s place within a year or two – only for the Australian rookie to also walk out for a seat at McLaren.

While he continues to have ambitions to race in other categories when his time in F1 is done – as he did during his 2019-20 sabbatical – Alonso also sees himself eventually switching to a non-driving role with his new employers.

“At the moment I don’t have anything clear in my head, but I know I will eventually stop driving one day and I will have had that time maybe 25 years’ experience or something,” said Alonso, quoted by The Race.

“So I can be obviously very useful for any team. And that team I hope is Aston Martin, just to continue whatever we do in the next few years.”

Alonso said recently he had always considered his exit from F1 at the end of 2018 to be a case of‘see you later’ rather than ‘bye bye’because he had been tempted by the new regulations, which were originally set to be introduced in 2021 but were delayed by a year because of the pandemic.

Having won the Le Mans 24 Hours, Daytona 24 Hours and World Endurance Championship, he says the Dakar Rally, in which he finished 13th on his debut in 2020, could be a bigger target in the future.

“I don’t know if it’s gonna be sportscars or Dakar, I mentioned that a few times,” said Alonso.

“In sportscars it is amazing, but in a way, winning the championship and winning Le Mans and Daytona, maybe I don’t have the excitement to achieve again something.

“While in Dakar, for example, if I win one day the Dakar Rally, I don’t think there is any precedent of doing that.”

No Formula 1 World Champion has won the Dakar Rally but Jacky Ickx, who has eight grand prix victories to his name, did so in 1983 – to go along with his six Le Mans triumphs also.

Read more:Fernando Alonso dreaming of a title but he may not be ‘driving that year in the car’