Do F1 drivers have an expiry date? What history shows about passing 40

Lewis Hamilton is enduring a tough start to his Ferrari career, but is it simply him not gelling with the car, or does his age have anything to do with it?

F1 is increasingly a young man’s game but there are still a few drivers who race well into their 40s. Here are all the men who did in the 21st century and what their form may tell us about Hamilton.

Analysing the F1 drivers who raced into their 40s

Michael Schumacher

First on this list is a man who hardly needs an introduction – Michael Schumacher.

After winning the lot at Ferrari, it looked like the seven-time World Champion’s time in F1 was done until Mercedes announced they were entering the sport, prompting the German Schumacher to come out of retirement for one last ride.

However, time had long passed since Schumacher was dominating the sport, and when he climbed into the Mercedes for the first time, he was 40 years old.

Pre-Mercedes, Schumacher’s form was as dominant as it gets for an F1 driver. He had never finished below third in the standings in any of his 16 full seasons (barring his 1997 disqualification), he won at least five races in all but two seasons from 1994 to 2004, and was the highest points scorer in F1 history.

But those averages took a hit when he moved to Brackley. Schumacher, who turned 40 in the January before his first season with the Silver Arrows, stood on the podium just once during his three years at Mercedes. An average finishing position of 5.44 in his last season at Ferrari became 8.65 in 2010.

A marginal improvement in 2011 was followed by a drop down to an average finish of 10th in his final season and while it is hardly fair to compare a new team against the sport’s oldest, Schumacher was also routinely beaten by team-mate Nico Rosberg.

In 2010, he scored a little over half what Rosberg did. The gap may have shrunk in 2011 but Rosberg still came out on top. In his final year in F1, Schumacher ended 44 points behind his fellow German.

It was not just in the races either. From 1991 to 2001, Schumacher’s quali record against team-mates was 152-9. At Mercedes, it was 17-41.

If Schumacher’s pre-40s form was near unbeatable, once he hit that age and with two kids at home, his speed undoubtedly dipped.

Pedro de la Rosa

Pedro de la Rosa raced just 20 times after passing the 40 mark and failed to score a point in that period but while Schumacher was winning titles, De La Rosa was more accustomed to life further down the grid.

But even with that in mind, there is a notable drop off in results.

The Spaniard’s first stint in F1 was from 1999 to 2002 and despite considerable reliability problems, his average finishing position was always around the P10 mark.

However, when he came back in 2012, that tumbled down to 19th. Of course, the HRT team he was driving for was not the best which may explain some of the drop off, but team-mate Narain Karthikeyan still finished ahead of him.

Kimi Raikkonen

After Schumacher, another World Champion that kept driving into his 40s was Kimi Raikkonen who was 42 by the time of his final race.

The Finn crossed the 40 mark with four races to go in 2019, a year when he would finish 12th in the standings, but his form fell away after that.

His best finish in 2019 was fourth but that became ninth in 2020 as Alfa Romeo’s speed declined. In the Covid-hit year, he finished on average 13th before marginally improving to 12th the next year. Before 2019, it had never dipped below 10th.

Raikkonen did have the beating of team-mate Antonio Giovinazzi but the back-to-back P16s were the joint-worst Drivers’ Standings finishes of the 2007 World Champion’s career.

Fernando Alonso

The most experienced man in Formula 1 history is not yet the oldest with Fernando Alonso at 63rd in the all-time ranking.

Alonso turned 40 on July 29, 2021 and at that time, there were few who would have argued that he had lost any of the pace that secured him two world titles.

Returning to the sport with Alpine, he beat Esteban Ocon in his first year and followed that up with P9 in the 2022 championship.

However, Alonso was back to his very best in the 2023 campaign when Aston Martin produced a quick car to start the year, securing Alonso eight podiums – a figure only beaten by the two Red Bull drivers.

But the Silverstone squad failed to build on their starting speed and have slipped down the order, leaving Alonso as one of just four drivers yet to score a point this season.

With engine regulation changes coming in 2026 and Adrian Newey on board, 2026 will be a test of both the team and the driver but for now at least, it seems Alonso has bucked the trend when it comes to older drivers.

More analysis from PlanetF1.com

The five key reasons Lewis Hamilton hasn’t clicked with Ferrari

Why the time has come for Lando Norris to unleash his dark side

What of Lewis Hamilton?

The interesting aspect of Hamilton’s late career is that he is the first driver this century to be racing in his 40s for a top team.

While Schumacher was at Mercedes, De La Rosa at HRT and Alonso at Alpine then Aston, Hamilton is at Ferrari, meaning expectation is high and the spotlight intense.

So far at least, it has not worked out and Charles Leclerc, a man 13 years younger than Hamilton, is beating the former Mercedes driver in almost every metric.

Hamilton has qualified ahead of Leclerc in just one race this year and aside from his sprint victory in China, he has always trailed him in the race.

Haniltoin’s Ferrari form alone is not enough to cast him into the pile of ‘has-beens’ just yet, but it is that coupled with his latter years at Mercedes that makes for alarming reading.

Pre-2022, Hamilton had been beaten by his team-mate on just two occasions. That figure has since doubled and looks likely to reach five this season barring any major turnaround.

Ferrari was supposed to re-energise a flat-looking Hamilton but so far, familiar patterns have shown themselves in red as much as they did in black.

Five races into a two-year contract is too soon to write a driver as talented as Hamilton off, but the seven-time World Champion may be succumbing to father time just like those before him did.

Read next: Uncovered: The reason behind Hamilton’s wild pace fluctuations