Jenson Button’s gentle nudge to Alonso: there’s a life after F1, too
Jenson Button has never been one for melodrama. So when he says he’d like to see Fernando Alonso trade visor tear-offs for pushchair straps one day, it lands with the sort of wry warmth only a former teammate can deliver.
“Fernando, come on, mate,” Button laughed on Sky Sports F1, turning reflective after calling time on his own professional racing commitments. “I’d love to see a few little Fernandos running around. If your kid climbs into a kart for the first time, that feeling might top winning a world championship.”
It wasn’t a dig. It was Button, 2009 world champion and the man who shared McLaren’s Honda years with Alonso in 2015–16, acknowledging the same contradiction everyone sees: Alonso is still razor-sharp in year 24 of his F1 career, and yet the clock inevitably keeps ticking.
Alonso, of course, remains the sport’s ultimate mileage king — the most experienced driver in Formula 1 history, still carving up qualifying laps and races in 2025 for Aston Martin. He hasn’t stood on the top step since 2013, and his last title came in 2006, but he’s as relentless as ever. He turns 44 this season and is under contract through the end of 2026, when F1’s new rules arrive and Aston Martin’s works partnership with Honda kicks in.
That’s the carrot. The 2026 regulation set — more electrical deployment, sustainable fuels, active aero — promises a reset big enough to tempt a competitor like Alonso to stick around. If Aston and Honda nail it, we all know what he’s still chasing.
And Alonso hasn’t been shy about the way he’s thinking. Earlier this year he hinted that the perfect exit might actually follow a strong 2026, not come in spite of one. If it’s fun, if the results are there, that could be the moment to hang up the gloves on a high.
He’s made it clear the decision won’t be made in isolation. “I’ll always talk with Lawrence and the team first — the team comes before me,” Alonso has said of Aston Martin’s plans with owner Lawrence Stroll. “I don’t need to prove anything now. I’m happy with my career. The priority is to help the team and enjoy it. We’ll take it day by day next year.”
Button, who is now a father of two, gets the pull from both sides. He appreciates, perhaps more than most, how much it takes to perform like Alonso still does at 44. But he also knows the tug of another paddock — the kart track — and the way it can rewire a racer’s perspective. “Seeing your kid want to drive a car… that emotion is huge,” he said. “Bigger than people think.”
The other truth here: Alonso doesn’t owe the sport anything. He’s already extended the boundaries of what a grand prix driver’s prime can look like, built a reputation for extracting near-maximums from cars that often weren’t, and helped drag Aston Martin into the sort of serious long-term project that has the paddock’s attention. If he bows out after 2026, he’ll do so as the benchmark for longevity in the modern era.
But the flip side is the very thing that’s kept him here this long. The itch hasn’t gone away. A third title would be the crowning arc to a career that’s touched nearly every corner of motorsport, and 2026 is the fresh slate that gives him a rational reason — beyond pure stubbornness — to stay in the fight.
Button’s point, delivered with a grin, isn’t about telling Alonso what to do. It’s a reminder that the next chapter has its own adrenaline. And if you know anything about Alonso, it’s that he’ll want to win at that, too.
For now, the green car is still his office, and the target is still straight ahead. Whether the last lap comes after the new rules land or a year later, it’ll be on his terms. And if we do one day see a mini-Alonso tilt at a karting trophy, don’t be surprised if the retired version is just as competitive — only this time, from the other side of the fence.
