Ralf Schumacher’s criticisms
“The now 42-year-old Alonso drive with us. Nothing against him, but it can’t be the goal of Formula 1 to get older and older.” This was the phrase uttered a few days ago by Ralf Schumacher to Sky Deutschlandwhen the former German driver focused on the possible damage that F1 could suffer if it did not open its doors to young drivers, while at the same time risking ‘growing old’ with experienced drivers.
The results from those over forty
Alonso, who will turn 43 this summer, has been at the center of attention several times not only for still being in the Circus (and therefore at the highest levels of motorsport) as an over-forty year old, but also and above all for having grasped results of absolute prestige. The most obvious example was last championship, with eight podiums achieved in his first season in Aston Martin, despite not managing to achieve the much desired victory.
Bottas’ praise
Many riders, unlike the brother of the seven-time German world champion, have repeatedly praised this particular quality of the Spaniard, that of still being competitive despite his age. The last one, in chronological order, was Valtteri Bottas. The former Mercedes driver is in fact aware of the difficulties of F1, even more so for a veteran of Alonso’s caliber, but certain results only highlight the driver’s qualities: “Its performance is still excellent – commented the Finn – he’s not a kid anymore, but I wouldn’t say he’s gotten any worse in terms of performance. Seeing Fernando was very motivating“.
