Fernando Alonso has said he signed for another year of Formula 1 despite knowing 2027 could be just as painful as this year -- but believes an uncompetitive year beats watching races on the sofa at home knowing he could do better.
Alonso, 45, has committed to another year with the struggling Aston Martin team, which will be his 24th in Formula 1.
The two-time champion has been a long-time believer in owner Lawrence Stroll's Aston Martin project, which he dubbed the "team of the future" a few years ago, but it has found itself painfully off the pace with struggling engine partner Honda.
He has also become one of the strongest critics of Formula 1's new hybrid engines, labelling the sport's new era the "battery world championship."
Alonso said he is unsure whether he thinks Aston Martin will improve next year, but he came to the conclusion that he could not walk away just yet.
"I have no guarantees that '27 will be more fun, but it is a commitment that you have to make with yourself," Alonso said. "At the end of the day, I feel fast, I feel motivated, I feel that I am enjoying what I am doing.
"And if I am sitting at home watching TV, watching races, I will feel that I can do better than them. That's what I felt in a way when I was away from F1, I was watching races and I was thinking, 'wow, that start was not right,' I don't know. I was always feeling the fire inside of being there and trying to do better.
"And I still feel it now and I said, until I have that inside, I think it's not time to stop."
After delaying the decision for a few months, Alonso said on Thursday it had been a straightforward call.
"I took the decision quite recently, and sitting with Lawrence it was very straightforward, we didn't have much to discuss," he said. "We both wanted to continue at that point, and it was a five-minute talk and we announced it."
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F1 has already confirmed a change to the engine rules next year.
Currently, the engines feature a neat 50-50 split between combustion power and electrical elements, but that is shifting towards 60-40 in favour of conventional combustion power over the next two seasons.
Speaking ahead of the sport's return to Malaysia's Sepang circuit, Alonso admitted the only thing stopping him extending earlier was his feelings about F1's new engines and hinted that the changes might bring about a marked improvement.
"The decision was more about the rules, how enjoyable it is to drive these cars and these rules. We come to an incredible circuit now, it's going to be sad, the middle sector, because we cannot use the battery there.
"If not, you don't have energy for the three consecutive straights, from [Turn] 15 to the last corner, last corner to Turn 1 to Turn 3. You have to use the full 100% battery on those three straights. So the rest is just charging the battery. So that's the problems we are facing now in terms of bringing the cars to the limit on the grip.
"I decided that maybe next year with the 60-40 and with the second year and the rules, maybe there is a better compromise on that. And as I said, let's do it one more time, let's give another opportunity, especially on the power unit side. We started with the wrong foot and it is a question mark what is going to happen next year.
"But I think they deserve another opportunity and I feel blessed."
Alonso had previously taken a sabbatical from F1 in 2019 and 2020, before returning with Alpine in 2021.
In the years leading up to that time away, and during the two years without F1, Alonso won two Le Mans 24 Hours titles with Toyota and took two more cracks at the Indy 500.
When asked if that time away from F1 had helped the longevity of his career since, he said: "Yes, exactly. I had to stop.
"I had to switch off from Formula 1, I had to experience different formulas and different series and different things that I had in my mind. It was a big curiosity and it was great fun to experience all of that. Discover new forms of motorsport, learn from the specialist on each of those series and become a more complete driver.
"That was very important. I still feel that it is appealing. I don't know when I will do it, but I will repeat those experiences."