Alonso to become F1’s oldest driver for more than 50 years · RaceFans

Fernando Alonso’s new contract will see him become the oldest driver to take part in a Formula 1 race for more than five decades.

His new deal will keep him at Aston Martin at least until the end of the 2026 season. Assuming he sees out that deal and the season doesn’t end abnormally early, Alonso will be racing past his 45th birthday in July 2026.

That will make him the oldest driver on the grid since another two-times world champion, Graham Hill, ended his career in 1975. Hill was 45 years and 345 days old when he started that year’s race at Interlagos.

He made two further attempts to qualify that year but didn’t make it onto the grid on either occasion. By the last race which Hill failed to qualify for, the Monaco Grand Prix, he had celebrated another birthday and was now 46 years and 85 days old. Since then, few drivers have raced on into their fifth decade.

Hill is an appropriate driver for Alonso to find symmetry with. Both are two-times world champions and both tackled the ‘triple crown’ of races with great success. Hill is the only driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix, Le Mans 24 Hours and Indianapolis 500, while Alonso has triumphed in the first two and tackled the latter three times.

*Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso: Age at 2024 Japanese Grand Prix

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It wasn’t unusual for drivers to race into their forties and even fifties during the first decade of the world championship. But the dangers of the time also took a toll.

The first two world champions, Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio, were well into their forties when they retired. But Alberto Ascari died during his career and Mike Hawthorn was just months into his retirement when he died in a road crash.

The fates of Jim Clark and Jochen Rindt – the only driver to win the championship posthumously – made some question why multiple champions Jack Brabham and Graham Hill kept racing so late in their careers. The former enjoyed a long retirement while the latter died in a plane crash soon after retiring.

But as the physical demands of driving cars grew in the late seventies, and new drivers started their careers earlier, those with the luxury of choosing when to end their careers increasingly did so in their thirties. Since Hill’s retirement only 10 drivers started grands prix after their 40th birthday: