This season, the 40-year-old Alpine driver will be the oldest on the grid, competing in his 19th Formula 1 season.
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Fernando Alonso claims that his age is a benefit because it comes with experience, something many F1 rookies lack. This season, the 40-year-old Alpine driver will be the oldest on the grid, competing in his 19th Formula 1 season. While F1 has been Alonso’s primary focus for the past two decades, he has also competed in the World Endurance Championship, the IndyCar series, and even the Dakar Rally. With that kind of experience at his age, the two-time Formula One World Champion believes he has an advantage over many of his opponents heading into the new 2022 season.
“To be precise, I see my age as an advantage,” he told Speedweek.com. “An example – Formula 1 is switching to low-profile tyres for the 2022 season and I know them through and through from my time in the World Sportscar Championship. The behaviour of these tyres in Formula 1 will be exactly the same as with the sports car. So while that’s new for most drivers here, this is old hat for me,” the Spaniard added.
While he may have more experience than his younger competitors, the Spaniard admits that there is one aspect of being older that works against you. Having been there and done that, Alonso believes it is more difficult to find the ambition and desire to spend 300 days away from home and put in all the effort required to be a successful racer. He, on the other hand, swears he still has it.
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“Perhaps the only problem that comes with getting older is that you have to have the motivation to go into a season that you will be 300 days per year away,” he said. “You have to have that desire, you have to have that lifestyle that allows you to dedicate yourself to this sport. Apart from that, all the other things are advantages.”
“So because I’m in a moment in life that I want to dedicate my moment in time to F1, it’s fantastic. I think I only see advantages. And then, physically, I think the cars of today are not very demanding. I think 2004-05, maybe the age was a limitation,” the 40-year-old added.
