The 45-year-old is reportedly plotting a run at the world’s toughest off-road race while continuing in Formula 1 next season. Specialist outlet SoyMotor broke the story on 6 October, and it has since been echoed by El Español, Diariomotor and other Spanish outlets. The agreement is said to be awaiting final signatures.
Alonso himself hinted at something coming when he spoke to reporters at the Malaysian Grand Prix on 1 October.
“The Dakar is completely opposite to Formula 1 and I’d like to have that sensation of being a novice,” he said, according to El Español.
He also told the Malaysian media pack to expect “more surprises in the coming weeks”.
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A familiar co-driver
The pairing with Coma is familiar territory. The two raced together in a Toyota Hilux at the 2020 Dakar, where Alonso finished 13th on his debut in the event. Coma, who sealed his fifth Dakar motorcycle title in January 2015, had switched from bike to co-driver’s seat for Alonso’s first attempt.
Alonso has not competed in a rally-raid since that 2020 outing. His off-F1 CV in between has leaned towards sportscars and the Indianapolis 500, which make the Dakar a different kind of challenge: two weeks across dunes and rocks, navigating by roadbook, with no telemetry and no race engineer in his ear.
A rebadged Sandrider from Prodrive
The car itself would not be an Aston Martin from the ground up. According to the Spanish reporting, the project is built on a Prodrive T1+ chassis, the same platform that carried the Dacia Sandrider to the top of the 2026 Dakar standings in the hands of Nasser Al-Attiyah. Prodrive would strip, rebadge and wrap the car in Aston Martin livery rather than build a bespoke machine.
The car and its service trucks are already in the United Kingdom, with the first shakedown reportedly scheduled for the week after the Singapore Grand Prix break. Daniel Gratacós, previously an engineer on the Dacia project alongside Al-Attiyah, is expected to lead the test programme.
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Sébastien Loeb, who drove a Sandrider at the 2026 Dakar, is mentioned by OK Diario as part of the same Prodrive stable Alonso would join, though the shape of any team-mate relationship has not been reported.
No comment from Aston Martin
Neither Alonso nor the Aston Martin Formula One Team has issued a public statement on the Dakar project. Alonso’s F1 deal with Aston Martin runs through 2027, meaning any Dakar start would land in the middle of pre-season preparation for his final contracted grand prix year.
The 2027 Dakar is scheduled to run in Saudi Arabia in early January 2027.
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