Fernando Alonso stepped into the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez with the plans of starting his 400th Grand Prix on Sunday. The Spaniard, who made his debut in 2001 with Minardi, never thought 20 years ago that he would stick around in the sport for this long, and neither did Max Verstappen,
Verstappen was slightly over three years old when Alonso raced in F1 for the first time at the 2001 Australian GP. Growing up seeing Alonso, the Dutchman confessed that he never imagined anyone to ever hit the 400 mark, as he has witnessed that era of F1 where having 100-150 race starts was a huge deal.
“It’s a crazy number. I never thought anyone would even go to 400,” said Verstappen to beIN Sports. “To hit 400 is it’s crazy. You can see Fernando loves racing.”
Even after 400 races, Alonso is unlikely to stop anytime soon. He’s already contracted with Aston Martin until the end of 2026 and may extend if he feels like continuing or if the Silverstone-based team has a shot at the championship the following year.
The only driver who comes close to Alonso’s number of race appearances is Lewis Hamilton, with 352 starts to his name. Most other drivers aren’t anywhere near the Oviedo-born driver’s level of longevity in the sport.
Alonso started when a few race drivers weren’t even born
The difference in experience in the current grid is so staggering that some F1 drivers—Oscar Piastri, Franco Colapinto, and Liam Lawson— weren’t even born when Alonso made his debut.
On the other hand, except for Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, and Nico Hulkenberg, none of the drivers’ ages had hit the double digits.
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Alonso confessed in a recent interview that he had thought of leaving F1 by 2009. However, his love for the Apex Motorsport kept him going. Even when he eventually calls time on his F1 career, he’s unlikely to leave motorsports entirely and will likely have other avenues in mind.
Firstly, he aims to win the Dakar rally, which he failed to do last time. But he said no to returning to Indy500, mainly “because of the risk of the oval and the speeds,” he said in an interview.
For now, though, the 43-year-old’s focus remains on returning to winning ways in F1. He hasn’t won a race since 2013—a drought he hopes Aston Martin can help him break in the coming months.
