With more than 750 F1 starts between them, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso are two of the most experienced drivers on the current grid. The Aston Martin driver, however, is on the verge of a historic feat — the 2024 Mexico City GP is going to be the Spaniard’s 400th Grand Prix entry.
And while many drivers on the grid have congratulated the #14 driver for his achievement, when Hamilton was asked about his own stats, the Briton lit up a competitive fire. During media day for the Grand Prix weekend, Hamilton was asked if he felt he could outlast Alonso in the sport.
The seven-time world champion replied, “[It] depends how far he’ll go. I’m probably going to be here longer than him.” Alonso himself could have missed his landmark 400th GP, earlier this week, after a health scare.
“im probably going to be here longer than him” pic.twitter.com/cRocaVQDFE
— sim (@sim3744) October 26, 2024
It was reported earlier this week that Alonso had not been keeping too well in the build-up to the Mexico weekend. However, the extent or cause of his illness was not revealed. Eventually, he missed the Thursday media session but was luckily back in the car for Friday’s FP2 session.
Hamilton, on the other hand, is chipping away at the Spaniard’s record with 352 Grand Prix entries to his name. While both Alonso and Hamilton are the two most experienced drivers on the grid, Alonso does have a six-season long advantage over the Briton — having debuted in the sport back in 2001 as compared to Hamilton’s debut in 2007.
But after unsuccessful stints with McLaren, Renault, Ferrari, and McLaren again, Alonso briefly retired from the sport in 2018. It was in 2021 when he returned to F1 with Alpine (formerly Renault).
After mediocre midfield seasons with the Enstone-based team in 2021 and 2022, Alonso signed with Aston Martin. With the AMR23, he scored eight podiums last year. This year, despite a struggling AMR24, Alonso signed a multi-year deal with the Silverstone-based team which will see him drive in F1 until at least 2026.
