On Thursday, it was announced that Alonso will remain with the Silverstone-based team for at least two years as a driver, but with a long-term deal that extends into his racing retirement.

The Spaniard joined Aston Martin at the start of last season and had raised doubts over his intention to continue beyond the end of 2024, when his current contract expires.

Set to turn 43 before the end of the season, he cited the demands of a 24-race calendar and a desire to explore life outside of F1 as factors in his decision-making process.

That he was still enthused after a busy start to the 2024 season was enough to convince him to remain in the sport, after which he began discussions.

“I did speak with other people as well, yes,” Alonso confirmed to selected media, including Speedcafe.

“I think it’s normal when you enter negotiations, you need to balance a little bit what is the market.

“You need to listen to everyone else as well. It’s just a normal procedure, and I think it’s fair to listen to all the proposals and see how the market moves.”

Alonso’s name was raised in conjunction with the vacant seat at Mercedes and even as an outside chance to replace Sergio Perez at Red Bull Racing.

Of those two, the former was most likely as the Brackley operation looks in need of a short-term driver to bridge across to Kimi Antonelli – the F2 rookie realistically still a year or two away from being truly ready.

That made Alonso a viable option, along with the likes of Esteban Ocon.

However, though the two-time world champion admits he had conversations elsewhere, he opted to remain where he is for what will almost certainly be the final contract of his F1 career.

“It was also a sense of loyalty that I wanted to express to my team,” he explained.

“One year and a half ago, we started together and we achieved so many things, some of them probably unprecedented in Formula 1 to reach so many highs in such a short period of time.

“I think, or I felt this is just the beginning of the journey. It could not be the end of the journey for me and Aston Martin.

“In my head, Aston was the logical thing for me to do,” he added of why he opted to remain.

“At the end, it was also the best and I felt the most wanted in Aston Martin.

“All the other conversations were just light, and never came to any conclusions or something like that.

“Maybe more time was needed, all these kinds of things, while in Aston, it was a clear desire to work together, which was the same that I had.

“That’s why it came very easy.”

With the assumption Formula 1 will continue with 24 races per season in the future, Alonso looks set to end his career, which began with Minardi in 2001, with at least 454 entries to his name.