Fernando Alonso's heartbreaking reality that emerged during the Aston Martin-Honda partnership announcement

Fernando Alonso's past relationship with Honda did not play a role as Aston Martin and Hthe Japanese brand announced a partnership that begins in 2026.

The partnership should help both entities as it gives Honda a viable and competitive client and at the same time, it gives Asron Martin a strong power unit partner.

During all of this though, there was one part of the conversation that could prove to be damning for Fernando Alonso and his prospects of fighting for the title with Aston Martin. That part of the conversation was Martin Whitmarh admitting that the team's close association with Mercedes is a severe baggage for the team.

The association is not only as a power unit supplier as Aston Martin uses a Mercedes wind tunnel for car development. In addition, there are other small-scale collaborations between the two parties that ultimately help Aston Martin in producing the car.

While all of this is great for a team making its way through the midfield, it's not good for a team aiming to fight for the title.

Mercedes is a frontrunner and has been for a decade now. The collaboration cannot continue if Aston Martin has to win titles one day.

In order to get rid of the shackles, the team already is working on its own wind tunnel that should be fully functional by 2025. Becoming a works customer for Honda is another such step.

In all of this though, Fernando Alonso would have realized something that many pundits and fans have been unable to put their finger on for now.

This realization is the fact that Aston Martin still has some levels to jump before it can be considered a championship contender and there seems to be a scenario where the team is targetting 2026 as the season to make its final leap.

For a driver who will turn 45 in 2026, it does make it highly likely that Fernando Alonso might not get his hands on a championship-contending Aston Martin.

Customer teams do not win titles

While Aston Martin's rise this season has surprised and excited a lot of people, it's hard to deny that at least a couple of steps in performance need to be made before the car would be competitive with Red Bull.

Those last two steps are the hardest because not only does a team need to maximize everything to make those steps, but those steps can only be facilitated as a works outfit.

A world championship is more often than not won by a works outfit where the power unit supplier treats the team as its priority.

Mercedes, Ferrari, and Alpine are works outfits where they develop their own power units. Red Bull is a works outfit with Honda as it works exclusively with the team.

When McLaren was winning the title in the late 1990s and 2007, the team had a works relationship with Mercedes. Being a customer team helps it progress up the grid but at the sharp end of the grid, everything needs to be aligned in your direction. That's where the exclusive deals come into play.

For instance, if Mercedes turns out to be the direct competitor for Aston Martin in 2024 and 2025, it could complicate matters for both teams to have such high-level collaboration.

Customer teams don't win titles in F1 and this is something that will be a limiting factor for Aston Martin until the 2026 F1 season.

Aston Martin is too dependent on Mercedes

The Aston Martin-Mercedes collaboration goes far beyond the power unit as the two parties are deeply entrenched in other areas as well. The rear suspension, the gearbox and other minute details on the car produced by the Silverstone-based team come from Brackley and Brixworth.

It has been correctly pointed out now by multiple F1 pundits that one of the reasons why Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin are outperforming their works counterpart is because Mercedes has messed up its car design.

The over-dependence on Mercedes was a boon for Aston Martin when it was still a midfield team trying to find its way. Now that Aston Martin has done that, the next step is going to take some time and it's not going to come easily either.

Like it or not, Fernando Alonso does not have many years left in F1

Finally and most importantly, even though Fernando Alonso continues to defy the odds every day, father time is undefeated in sports. The Spaniard is 41 years of age right now. Are his performances akin to an elite driver on the grid? Yes, they are.

Will they continue to be this way almost 3 years later? The answer to that question is more than likely going to be a no. Now, the answer is not to offend any of the Fernando Alonso fans in any which way but there is a certain reality to life where age catches up with everyone.

It's hard to deny that almost every fan would be egging Fernando Alonso on if the Spaniard gets the opportunity to fight for a title again in his career.

However, if we have to wait until 2026 for that opportunity to come, we might not have the Spaniard around or capable enough to get the job done.

With the Aston Martin-Honda announcement, Martin Whitmarsh claimed that the team had found the final missing piece to be a winner in F1.

Well, he's not wrong. Unfortunately, though, that final piece will not show up until 2026 and that would be a heartbreaking realization for Fernando Alonso himself who finally got hold of a championship-winning car.