MOGYOROD, Hungary (AP) — Fernando Alonso has suggested his future in Formula 1 could depend on whether the cars become more enjoyable to drive.
Alonso and Aston Martin have struggled with a slow and unreliable car, the first produced with car design great Adrian Newey in charge. Alonso scored the team's only point so far this season at the Monaco Grand Prix.
The two-time F1 champion turns 45 next week and signed what was described as a “multiyear” extension in 2024. He confirmed he still has a contract for 2027 with Aston Martin, “so I'm not moving."
“For me, I’m relaxed. As I’ve said many times, I’m thinking. I need to know what I do next year and in the years to come. I feel fresh, I feel motivated, I feel fast, but I need to enjoy also what I do,” Alonso said ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
Alonso was sharply critical of the last two races in Britain and Belgium, where the cars ran out of battery power on the long straights.
"I think it’s not fun to watch, it’s not fun to drive, and we’ve been repeating the same thing every single Grand Prix," he said. “It’s not the same adrenaline that I used to have driving a Formula 1 car. That’s something that I need to put on the table. It’s not a problem with the competitiveness of the team. It’s just a problem of whether Formula 1 gives me the adrenaline that I need to live.”
Aston Martin is bringing a major package of upgrades to its car for the Hungarian Grand Prix. An engine upgrade from supplier Honda is expected later, but Hungary's relatively slow and twisty track could make up for the Aston Martin's lack of power.
Alonso said he still believed Newey and Honda could deliver a world-beating car and engine combination given time.
“I think I have a pretty clear picture of the team, that we will fix all the problems. They take time, but I have no doubts, zero doubts, that Adrian will provide the best car on the grid sooner or later,” he said.
“I would like to see the first step with this package ... and I think there’s going to be more to come next year, that’s for sure, and in the years to come. On the power unit, I have no doubts as well.”
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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso of Spain attends a news conference ahead of the Sunday's Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix auto race, at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, near Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso of Spain walks through the paddock ahead of Sunday's Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix auto race, at the Hungaroring racetrack in Mogyorod, near Budapest, Hungary, Thursday, July 23, 2026. (AP Photo/Darko Bandic)
Tropical Storm Bertha made a second landfall Thursday near the Texas-Louisiana state line after grazing southern Louisiana in a slow crawl that triggered heavy surf and some flooding along the Gulf Coast but kept the heaviest rains offshore.
Bertha moved inland about 75 miles (115 kilometers) northeast of Galveston, Texas, on Thursday afternoon, the National Hurricane Center said. Still packing sustained winds of 45 mph (72 kph) when it reached land, the storm expected to weaken rapidly.
No deaths or significant damage have been reported since Bertha formed Monday in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Florida Panhandle. The storm triggered some coastal flooding as its center first struck land Wednesday in Louisiana southwest of New Orleans, but its heaviest rains stayed over the Gulf waters.
A tropical storm warning remained in effect Thursday along the Gulf Coast from Morgan City, Louisiana, to Sargent, Texas. The hurricane center said Bertha could still cause up to 2 feet (0.6 meters) of storm surge along the coast and trigger isolated flash flooding from heavy rains in coastal and south Texas.
Tropical storm force winds on Thursday extended as far as 160 miles (260 kilometers) from the storm’s center, the hurricane center said. Still, forecasters expected the storm to weaken rapidly as it moved over inland Texas and dissipate by Friday.
In Galveston, an island city of 53,000 people southeast of Houston, local officials urged residents to brace for a “windy day” and secure any outdoor objects that might become airborne projectiles.
“While no significant impacts are forecast, some gusty storms may blow through the island throughout the day,” Galveston’s Office of Emergency Management said in a Facebook post Thursday.
The Galveston Historic Seaport canceled its sightseeing boat tours Thursday afternoon as a precaution, but was otherwise operating normally, said employee Jesi Hahn.
“We’ll definitely be open,” Hahn said. “We usually close for big hurricanes.”
At the nearby Harbor House Hotel and Marina, employee Justin Timber said he wasn’t aware of any canceled reservations.
“It seems like a normal day,” he said. “Restaurants are clicking. Everything’s great.”
Electrical outages across the Gulf Coast were minimal, according to the website poweroutage.us. Still, Bertha’s passage wasn’t harmless.
In Pensacola, Florida, officials closed an area around a storm-damaged beach boardwalk, Mayor D.C. Reeves said Thursday on Facebook. He posted a photo showing part of the boardwalk’s support structure ripped away and a fence damaged nearby.
Strong gales earlier in the week knocked over a Waffle House sign onto a car in Panama City Beach, Florida. Heavy surf and the threat of rip tides had prompted warnings at Gulf Coast beaches for swimmers to stay out of the water.
Bertha is the second tropical storm of the Atlantic hurricane season. Tropical Storm Arthur in June brought heavy rainfall to the southeastern U.S.
In the eastern Pacific Ocean, Hurricane Fausto churned far from land Thursday. The hurricane was more than 1,000 miles (1,600 kilometers) west-southwest of the southern tip of Baja California with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (130 kph).
The hurricane center said swells generated by Fausto could cause life-threatening surf and rip tides in parts of southern California.
Bynum reported from Savannah, Georgia, and Thanawala reported from Atlanta.
Josiah Carpenter, 8, frolics in the floodwaters on Lakeshore Drive along Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
This NOAA satellite image taken at 11:40 a.m. EDT on Wednesday, July 22, 2026, shows Tropical Storm Bertha in the Gulf of Mexico moving toward the edge of Louisiana. (NOAA via AP)
Children play near breaking waves on West End Pier on Lake Pontchartrain as Tropical Storm Bertha approaches the Louisiana Coast Wednesday, July 22, 2026, in New Orleans. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert)
