Fernando Alonso faces harsh Aston Martin reality after F1 commentator assessment

Formula 1 commentator Alex Jacques has claimed that Fernando Alonso hasn't got enough years left  in the championship to see the Aston Martin and Honda partnership come good.

At 44 years old, Alonso is the oldest driver on the grid. With the new partnership between Honda and Aston Martin, and the first car from the Silverstone outfit designed under the leadership of Adrian Newey, expectations were high ahead of the season. 

Unfortunately for the British squad, it immediately ran into major issues and now sits last in the constructors' standings. 

While discussing the first three rounds of the season in an F1 season start debrief video, Jacques wanted to offer a balanced review of the outfit's campaign so far.

"Here are the positives. Adrian has never failed at a Formula 1 team since the early '90s when he joined Williams," he said.

"So, proven all the time. Honda always comes good. It just takes a while. Even when they switched, they built it in 2014, raced it in 2015, and they won with their power unit in 2019.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Paul Crock / AFP via Getty Images

"They had to switch from McLaren to Red Bull to do that with Max Verstappen. So there is an inevitability if everyone can stay patient that they have the designer, they have the resource, and Honda always gets it right. It's just a matter of time. That is the positive.

"The downside is it's going to take literally years for them to be anywhere near to what we expected them to be."

Asked if this could be how Alonso ends his F1 career, Jacques added: "He's 44 years old. I love seeing his starts. I love the fact you look at the page, and it says he's 10th. How is he 10th? How are you all guys on the grid getting done by a 44-year-old?

"It's unbelievably good. His racecraft, I will miss it when it's gone. But I don't think he's got enough years left to see the fruit of the collaboration come good."