Mike Krack took a small step back after declaring earlier in Abu Dhabi that he wants to extend Fernando Alonso's Aston Martin contract beyond 2024.
Some thought the team boss's words were a sign that a new deal for the 42-year-old Spaniard was already in the making.
"Obviously it's not a decision I make alone," Krack has now told the Spanish broadcaster DAZN in Abu Dhabi.
"We have Lawrence Stroll and we have Martin Whitmarsh. We talk about these things, but I can only say that at the level he is working at, I think Fernando Alonso's age is just a number.
"I believe he's like Roger Federer or Valentino Rossi, who had very long sporting careers," Krack continued.
"I've worked with drivers who were not even 30 and said 'I have achieved everything', even though they had not really achieved much," he added.
"And then you have an example like Alonso, with a great mentality and enormous determination."
Alonso's friend, fellow Spaniard and long-time colleague at several teams, Pedro de la Rosa, is now an ambassador at the grands prix for Aston Martin.
And he says the question of whether the team should give Alonso a new contract is a no-brainer.
"Yes, yes, yes, and yes for every year he asks for," de la Rosa grinned.
Experienced former F1 engineer Toni Cuquerella fully agrees.
"Like Mike Krack, I don't understand the question either," he said.
"Would you renew his contract? Would you like to have Messi? You'd say 'Damn, of course I want him!'
"You have something that is working, it is perfect, who cares about age because he's still so fast. Would you renew him? I'd say 'Are you stupid or what?'"
