Fernando Alonso told he can ‘probably’ go on until he’s 50 by long-time rival

Fernando Alonso suggested physically he may be capable of racing in Formula 1 until he hits 50, with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez saying the two-time World Champion “probably” will hit that milestone.

Alonso has now established himself as the most experienced Formula 1 driver of all-time but, even at the age of 42, he is showing zero signs of slowing down.

His move to Aston Martin from 2023 breathed fresh life into Alonso’s F1 story with eight podiums scored over the season, and while he now enters the last year of his contract, during which he will turn 43, Aston Martin are determined to agree a new contract with their age-defying star.

Sergio Perez says Fernando Alonso ‘probably’ races until 50

And when speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the launch of Aston Martin’s F1 2024 challenger, the AMR24, Alonso said he had been “exceeding expectations” in his pre-season preparations, which makes him think he would race on as far as to age 50.

“For the future and keeping racing, a few years ago, I would say that maybe 42 or 41 was the limit,” said Alonso.

“Now, after I saw myself last year, motivated and performing well. I was thinking maybe that I can keep racing [for a] few more years.

“Now this winter, I’ve been exceeding a little bit of expectations in terms of all the physical tests and everything that I did. So I will say that if you are motivated, and if you want to commit, you can drive maybe until 48 or 49, or whatever, or even 50.”

Aston Martin will hope their AMR24 can take the fight to Red Bull’s RB20 in the upcoming campaign, and when speaking to media including PlanetF1.com at the RB20 launch, Perez was asked whether he feels like he could race in F1 until 50 like Alonso.

“No, I don’t see myself racing for that long,” he said with a smile.

However, he could envisage Alonso doing so.

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Alonso went on to admit that the motivation to continue to navigate the F1 schedule, which requires “total dedication”, is the more pressing concern that makes him doubt whether he would actually be an F1 driver at 50.

However, Perez sees Alonso as the master of “career regeneration” and thinks he can pull it off.

“Probably, yes,” he replied when asked if Alonso could race on for that long. “I think Fernando is a great example of career regeneration in terms of motivation.

“Formula 1 is different from other sports. It’s a motivation. Having the will to travel the world throughout the year. And if you have that motivation, and obviously, you take care of yourself, of your body, we’re all very professional, so that’s not a limitation.

“So it’s all about the motivation you have when you get to those stages.”

Both Alonso and Perez could find themselves representing interesting options on the F1 driver market for 2025, with their respective Aston Martin and Red Bull deals up at the end of F1 2024 as it stands.

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