Opinion

Who slept best last night: Fernando Alonso

Fernando Alonso is the oldest Formula 1 driver in 50 years – yet, hoping for a happy ending to his F1 story now makes more sense

Last Tuesday, Fernando Alonso celebrated his 44th birthday. Three days later, he needed an injection to be fit for Free Practice 2 at the Hungarian Grand Prix, having skipped the opening session. Why? Back pain – just the sort of thing one might expect at his age.

Still, the same Alonso hauled his car up to fifth on the grid and held that position over 70 laps with a tactically astute drive. But what’s even more impressive is the proud Spaniard is the oldest Formula 1 driver in half a century, since 45-year-old Graham Hill – also a two-time world champion – took part in the opening rounds of the 1975 season.

Alonso: “This lifestyle isn’t for everyone”

With a record 415 grand prix starts, Alonso knows what battles are worth fighting; on Sunday, he often yielded to faster opponents to save time and tyres, making his one-stop strategy work to perfection. Like the old samurai tattooed across the very back that now troubles him, he fights only the battles that he can win. These are the lessons of a life lived on the limit.

“This lifestyle isn’t for everyone,” Alonso recently said on a mystic tone in a new commercial for one of Aston Martin’s team partners. “But I wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world.”

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images

In his case, you believe it. After all, Alonso has spent more than half his life in Formula 1. It's been an incredible 22 years since he took his first grand prix win – at the Hungaroring, for Renault. Two years later, he secured the first of back-to-back world championships with the French team.

It was a different era, a different F1 – and yet, Alonso was already there. Curiously, he never won again in Budapest after that maiden victory, yet the circuit still played a defining role in his career.

Always Budapest – 2003, 2007, 2021, 2022...

Take 2007, when he infamously blocked McLaren team-mate Lewis Hamilton in the pitlane during qualifying – an incident made all the more memorable by the confrontation between Alonso’s physio, Fabrizio Borra, and a furious Ron Dennis. Borra, a long-time companion of Alonso’s, passed away this May, which has deeply affected the Spaniard.

Alonso’s latest renaissance began in 2021, when he returned to F1 after a two-year break. Hungary was where he reminded everyone he still had what it takes, holding off faster cars – particularly Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes – for laps to help Alpine team-mate Esteban Ocon clinch his first grand prix victory.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

A year later, behind the scenes in Budapest, Alonso and his friend Mark Webber orchestrated two key moves as Webber protege and Alpine reserve driver Oscar Piastri secured a McLaren seat while Alonso likewise signed with Aston Martin.

Now languishing at the bottom of the constructors’ championship, Alpine paid a heavy price for its indecision. Under Laurent Rossi, its leadership couldn’t make up its mind between Piastri and Alonso. In the end, the team lost both. In 2025, one is leading the world championship, and the other is hoping to in the new rules’ era.

Aston Martin’s dramatically improved form at the Hungaroring was a promising sign in that context. The team doesn’t quite understand how its green machines ended up so close to pole position after qualifying dead last at Spa-Francorchamps, but this shows its potential.

Billionaire team owner Lawrence Stroll has steadily and methodically built up the outfit with virtually unlimited resources, hiring top talent like new team principal Andy Cowell – formerly responsible for Mercedes’ engine dominance in the turbo hybrid era – who will be key to integrate the Honda power units from 2026, alongside legendary designer Adrian Newey. That’s on top of a state-of-the-art factory with a brand-new wind tunnel.

Success next season would be no surprise, and if an Aston Martin driver can be in reach of a world championship, it will clearly be Alonso, not Lance Stroll. Should the veteran pull off a third title – which most in the paddock would deem overdue – he might want to pass the baton to someone like his friend Max Verstappen and step into the background. After all, Alonso’s most recent contract extension was effectively a retirement deal that ties him to the organisation for the long term.

Also a talent scout with Bortoleto

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing, Gabriel Bortoleto, Sauber

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images via Getty Images

Perhaps Alonso is already preparing his own succession, as Gabriel Bortoleto’s manager. In the Hungarian GP, the Brazilian rookie shadowed his mentor lap after lap, finishing an impressive sixth in the Sauber and winning the ‘Driver of the Day’ fan poll.

This brought Alonso as much joy as his own performance and showed he still has a bright future in F1 – whether that’s in the cockpit or as a Webber-style mentor to the next generation.