Fernando Alonso is now out of the running to drive for Mercedes next year after committing to a new contract with Aston Martin.
Lewis Hamilton's announcement that he'll be joining Ferrari from next year led to speculation on who Mercedes would look at to replace him.
Despite being 42 years of age, Alonso is still seen as one of the best drivers on the grid and was being touted as a potential option.
But Aston Martin have moved quickly to keep hold of the two-time world champion for at least another two years.
Fernando Alonso will stay at Aston Martin for two more years
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The new deal was announced on social media in a short statement.
"I am here to stay," Alonso said.
Alonso is set to turn 45 years of age during the 2026 season, which may end up being his final year in F1.
Speaking a year ago, the Spaniard hinted that he was looking to race through to 2026.
He said: "I want to be two to three years at this level. That is the team's aim too. We are not at a stage to win a championship, but we want time to reach the target.
“That is why I came back to Formula 1 in 2021 after a couple of years out.
“I thought the new regulations coming in last season would mix it up, which they have.
“Yes, Red Bull are dominating but you don’t see big gaps – all the field is covered by 1.2/1.3 seconds – so maybe in a few years we’ll be right up there.”
Mercedes are on the lookout for Lewis Hamilton's replacement
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The 2026 season will also see major changes to F1's regulations to try and shake things up.
The biggest change is being made to the power unit rules, which will result in different chassis regulations for teams to abide by.
But former F1 driver Karun Chandhok has expressed concerns with the regulations not still not completely finalised with under two years until they come into force.
“Well, first of all, the regulations haven’t fully been defined yet. What we do know is that the internal combustion engine – the amount of power from that will be reduced compared to the battery,” Chandhok said.
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Fernando Alonso will be 45 years old during the 2026 season
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“F1 has been hybrid since 2014. The amount of hybrid power from the electric side is going to be now equal to the amount of power from the ICE. So 50/50, which is a big change to the power unit side.
“Now, from what we understand, there are still a lot of conversations going on about how they’re going to make that work.
“Because, in order to harvest the amount of energy and to get the amount of energy you need to deploy, you have to take a significant amount of drag off the car.
“So there are a lot of conversations going on between the teams and the FIA and F1’s technical department on just what the best way is for that. So, at the moment actually, there’s a lot of conversation but no definition yet in terms of what the chassis rules are going to be.”
