“I don’t have a date when I want to end my career” - Fernando Alonso refutes speculations about his F1 retirement

F1 Grand Prix of Mexico - Final Practice
Fernando Alonso reveals no plans to retire amidst F1 rumours (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

Fernando Alonso quashed rumors about his retirement in a recent interview, saying that he doesn't know when to call time on his career.

Aston Martin's recent performance has surely let Alonso down after an excellent start to the 2023 season. Initially, it seemed as if he would be the only driver who could compete with Red Bull along with Max Verstappen.

There were multiple podium finishes and the team remained until the mid-season break. Since then, the AMR23 has witnessed a dip in form. Their competitiveness has been deteriorating and with a double DNF in Mexico recently, rumors emerged that Alonso might be considering retirement, again.

When asked about the ongoing retirement speculations, Fernando Alonso stated that he has no plans to retire at the moment.

"Not at the moment," he told Fox Sports. "I know I’m at the last stage of my career, but I don’t see it that way at the moment. I don’t have a date when I want to end my career."

The Spaniard, however, added that he is not motivated to drive in the car he currently is in.

"I like competition. I like to be fast, and I hate losing. It’s obviously not very difficult to motivate myself when I’m in the cara," Alonso remarke

Fernando Alonso disappointed with Aston Martin's current situation

Fernando Alonso struggled badly at the Mexican Grand Prix earlier this year. After starting the race from P13, he picked up some debris from Sergio Perez's first lap crash, which worsened the situation for him.

Later in the race, he was passed by his teammate and decided to retire the car on the 48th lap. At the time, he was running at the back of the grid.

Talking about the disappointing result of the race, Alonso said as quoted by AS.com:

"It's hard. It is not the funeral that I see when I come to talk to the Press, we work as much as we can and we are not happy with the situation, it is not the position we want but we work very hard to reverse this situation."

Things got worse for the team by the end of the race. Lance Stroll made contact in the third sector of the track, which sent him into a spin. He had to retire from the race as well.

There is a lot of work that remains to be sorted and done on the AMR23, but the team might as well be working on the car for the upcoming season.

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