Fernando Alonso offers 'semi-dead' rivals gibe in defiant age defence

Fernando Alonso has pointed to the aftermath of the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix and "semi-dead" F1 rivals in a defence of his age. 

Alonso turned 45 in July, and should he decide to stay on for a 24th F1 season in 2027, will turn 46 during the campaign, with the last 46-year-old to compete in F1 being Maurice Trintignant at the 1964 Italian GP. 

Alonso's ninth-place in the Dutch GP last time out made him the first driver over the age of 45 to score points since Graham Hill at the 1974 Swedish GP, with the two-time champion the 13th oldest driver to score a point in a world championship grand prix. 

If Alonso wanted to break that record, he would have to score a point in a grand prix after Thursday April 5th 2035, when he would be 53 years, 8 months, seven days old, breaking Philippe Etancelin's record from the 1950 Italian GP. 

No driver has raced in a world championship grand prix over the age of 50 since Louis Rosier at the 1956 Italian GP, with Alonso currently ranking as the 46th oldest driver to race in F1, a list he will climb to 43rd on by the end of the season, and possibly into the top 30 all-time, if he decides to commit to another season as he mulls retirement.

Lewis Hamilton is another driver who is competing into his mid-40s, with Alonso's old rival currently 41 years old, with Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen the only other drivers to race into their 40s in the 21st century. 

When asked if the cars being easier to drive was prolonging the careers of drivers, Alonso pointed to the 2023 Qatar GP, where he was 42 years old, but emerged well from the brutal conditions, where the heat caused Esteban Ocon to vomit in his helmet, Lance Stroll to lose consciousness whilst at the wheel and Logan Sargeant to retire with heatstroke. 

"This is because you are a sports journalist and this is the the normal trend," Alonso began when asked by media, including RacingNews365 for his take on whether the cars being easier to drive were prolonging the careers of himself and Hamilton, who will turn 42 before the start of next season.

"You have a certain age that you are at your peak, and then you have to perform, but this is not football, this is not athletics, this is not the NBA. 

"When we raced in Qatar in 2023, [when Alonso was 42], everyone was semi-dead in the parc ferme in front of me, and I was fine. I was doing the interviews in the TV pen, so this is a different animal. 

"There is someone who is using 100% of their brain capacity and physical abilities to drive the car, and maybe Max Verstappen is using 10% because he's on another level, so it depends.

"Age is not a problem. It's just the motivation, the fun, what is remaining to be achieved. There are drivers that have never been on the podium, drivers that have never won a race, drivers that dream to become champion one day. 

"I obviously have those goals as well and that appetite, but I have also bigger ambitions as well, and I took the sabbatical years [between 2019-2020] to be a more complete driver and to learn different things as well, not only specific to Formula 1."