Alonso keeps the WEC door open in Baku as Aston Martin’s Valkyrie waits
He will keep racing, in Formula 1 or elsewhere, and a non-hybrid V12 hypercar fits his complaints about the 2026 cars
Fernando Alonso arrived in Baku without a contract for 2027 and left the media day without committing to Formula 1 either. “Yes, I will be around,” he told reporters, including Motorsport Week. “As I said many times, I will keep driving, if it’s in Formula 1 or other categories, I don’t really know, and while I’m in Formula 1, I will be with this team, driving or not driving, because I love the sport.”
The phrase that matters is “other categories”. Since the Spanish Grand Prix in Madrid, the most obvious one has had a name: the FIA World Endurance Championship, with Aston Martin’s Valkyrie hypercar.
One word in Madrid, one report since
In Madrid, Alonso was asked whether the WEC could be an option for 2027. He answered with a single “Yes” and refused to say much more. A decision, he said, would come “not soon”.
On 19 September GPblog went further. The Dutch outlet reported, on the strength of its own information, that Alonso is considering retiring from Formula 1 after this season and switching to the WEC, where he would race the Aston Martin hypercar. Neither Alonso nor Aston Martin has confirmed it, and the other outlets that have run the story cite GPblog.
His current deal with Aston Martin runs until the end of 2026. Alongside Haas and Racing Bulls, Aston Martin is one of only three teams yet to confirm a 2027 line-up.
“Drive slow to go fast” is a Formula 1 problem
What Alonso said in Baku explains why an endurance switch is more than a retirement plan. Asked by Motorsport.com about his talks with Formula 1 and the FIA, he made it clear his objection is to how the 2026 cars have to be driven, not to racing itself.
“There is no other series in motorsport where you need to drive slow to go fast,” he said. He also named the circuits he thinks the rules have spoiled. “We had Silverstone, an incredible circuit. It’s not fun anymore. We had Spa, that was semi-embarrassing to go through. Eau Rouge, Suzuka, the 130R. There were some circuits that were killed this year.”
He was also candid about his team’s form: “We are less competitive than the grid, yes. But I don’t think that’s the critical point for me to make a decision.” The weekend has hardly helped. Alonso and Lance Stroll both take grid penalties in Baku for Honda power unit changes, and Aston Martin sits second from bottom in the constructors’ championship with three points.
A V12 with no battery to charge
This is where the Valkyrie fits his complaint almost too neatly. The Valkyrie AMR-LMH runs a naturally aspirated 6.5-litre Cosworth V12 with no hybrid system, which is allowed under the Le Mans Hypercar rules. There is no battery to harvest in a fast corner, which is exactly the part of the 2026 Formula 1 cars he keeps criticising.
The car is also getting better. After a hard debut year in 2025, the Aston Martin THOR Team has scored a run of points finishes in 2026, and the number 007 of Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble took a second fourth place of the season at COTA earlier this month. “This result was another example of the progress we continue to make in understanding Valkyrie,” said Adam Carter, Aston Martin’s head of endurance. Team principal Ian James called it “a spectacular performance”, with the car just a couple of seconds away from the podium.
A podium is still missing, and Aston Martin is already working on 2027. In August the team tested an updated Valkyrie at Silverstone with a redesigned rear end, ahead of an Evo joker upgrade for next season. Anyone joining the programme for 2027 would get a new version of the car, not this one.
He has won this championship before
Alonso would not arrive in the WEC as a curious visitor. He won the 2018-19 super season with Toyota alongside Sébastien Buemi and Kazuki Nakajima, won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2018 and 2019, and added the Daytona 24 Hours with Wayne Taylor Racing in 2019. He is 45, and endurance racing is where drivers of that age are still hired for their speed.
Max Verstappen raised the idea again this month. Asked by BBC Sport about sharing a car with Alonso, he said: “I mean, look at Fernando. He’s 45 and he’s still flying. Especially for Le Mans, with his experience, it could be a good option.” He set conditions straight away: “It needs to fit our schedules. It needs to make sense, it needs to be on my terms, and there needs to be a real chance to go there and win it.” Verstappen’s own endurance plans are focused on the Nürburgring and Spa 24 Hours for now, and nothing about a joint Le Mans entry has been agreed.
Aston Martin says the big roadblocks are gone
The Formula 1 team is betting that the rule changes keep him. Mike Krack, Aston Martin’s chief trackside officer, pointed in Baku to the 2027-2028 roadmap, which moves the power split towards 60-40 in favour of the combustion engine. “Now, probably, there’s always going to be a little bit of fine-tuning, as we have seen also this year,” Krack said, “but I think the big roadblocks have been fixed, so I don’t expect a massive deviation from this.”
Alonso agrees the 60-40 split “will improve things”, but he wants more. “Maybe there are more things that we need to think about to keep improving things,” he said. He described the talks as ongoing with Formula 1 chief executive Stefano Domenicali, FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and the teams.
Our read: the WEC is his leverage and his exit
We think a credible WEC seat works for Alonso in both directions. While it exists, he can push Formula 1 on the rules without looking like a driver with nowhere else to go. And if the changes for 2027 fall short, the move would not look like a retirement: a non-hybrid V12, a manufacturer he already knows, and a championship he has already won.
What we doubt is a full season from day one. Aston Martin already has settled Valkyrie line-ups, and a car that is still chasing its first podium is a hard sell for a two-time Le Mans winner. A Le Mans entry, or a third-driver role at the long races, looks more realistic than a full season. That part is our reading, not something anyone involved has said.
What to watch
- Alonso’s own timeline. He has said the decision will not come soon and depends on how next year’s rules affect the driving.
- The Valkyrie at the 6 Hours of Fuji this weekend, where a first podium would strengthen the case for the programme.
- Aston Martin’s 2027 WEC driver announcements, and whether the team confirms both Formula 1 seats first.
More on the driver on his Fernando Alonso profile. Follow the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend on our live blog.
