Fernando Alonso reveals a unique change in perspective as the oldest F1 driver on the grid

Fernando Alonso shared his experience of being the oldest F1 driver on the grid, revealing the priorities of his life as a 44-year-old. While he did mention that he 'does not enjoy more' now, he described this experience to be a positive one.

Having debuted in the 2001 season, Alonso is currently the oldest and most experienced driver on the grid. In his years of racing, he has clinched two World Championships and 32 race wins. Despite his retirement at the end of the 2018 F1 season, he returned to racing in the series in 2021 and is still competing.

When asked about his experience of being the oldest driver, Alonso had quite a unique perspective. He mentioned that he had stopped caring a lot for other people and their opinions. Moreover, he also stated that one sticks around with a very small group of people, but it's a good stage of life to be in.

"I care a lot less. I think everybody does, you know, when you are more mature, when you are getting older, you understand that, you know, outside voices and opinions are not relevant," Alonso said.

He added:

"Your happiness is in a very small group of people and things like that. So, yeah, I think I enjoy, I will not say that I enjoy more now. I would say that I enjoy different now, you know, but yeah, good moment in life."

He has been racing with Aston Martin since the 2023 season, and although he picked up quite a few podiums with the team earlier, their performance declined over the seasons.

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Fernando Alonso on Aston Martin's mysterious "surprise" performance in Hungary

Both Aston Martins piloted by Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll fired up after the second free practice session during the Hungarian GP earlier. The Spaniard also managed to pull in his best result of the season so far, bringing in a P5.

However, this pace was a mystery, as Alonso put it. There was no major visible upgrade on the car, yet they showcased a major improvement. He stated that it was bad for the team to not know what brought up their competence throughout the length of the weekend.

"It is a surprise. Definitely, it is a surprise. So the good thing is that we were competitive and we were fast," Fernando Alonso said. "The concerning thing is that we don't know why. So in a way, we need, this week at the factory to analyse exactly what are the differences between Spa and Hungry."

Aston Martin has scored 52 points so far this season. Although they're not the most competitive team right now, they have a positive outlook for the 2026 season with new regulations. The team has the brilliance of Adrian Newey and the power of Honda for next year. Moreover, Fernando Alonso has also proven to be great at adapting to new cars, so this could be a strong point for the team.

Edited by Gunaditya Tripathi