Entering the 21st year of his Formula 1 career, there were doubts about whether Fernando Alonso will extend his contract. However, the 42-year-old put all such rumors to bed by extending till 2026. As per his admission, he still has immense hunger to fight and perform at the highest level. This hunger is seen by others as well like McLaren CEO Zak Brown. The American recently compared the two-time champion to NFL legend Tom Brady and IndyCar’s Scott Dixon.
As quoted by Marca, Brown said, “Maybe some athletes, a little older, start to lose their way because they concentrate on other things. They go beyond racing, but Fernando only thinks about running and I think he is the Tom Brady of this world, the Scott Dixon. They can challenge everything and their talent allows them to go further in their career than many others.”
The comparison to Scott Dixon and Tom Brady is enough to highlight Fernando Alonso‘s greatness. Brady was at the peak of his powers for over two decades in the NFL.
Meanwhile, Dixon continues to compete at the highest level in IndyCar despite being 43. Similarly, Alonso also seems to be at the peak of his abilities in recent times despite being 42.
Fernando Alonso expresses the confidence he has in his abilities
No one in the Formula 1 has proved age is just a number quite like Fernando Alonso. The 42-year-old knew that he still has the ability to perform at the highest level after he exceeded expectations in his winter test. After the test, he admitted he can race even till he’s 50.
As quoted by RacingNews365, he said, “This winter, I’ve been exceeding the 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, 49 or even 50.”
This was not always his perception though. Alonso claimed until a few years ago that 43 was the upper limit for an F1 driver.
However, his own physical tests have seemingly changed his perception. Hence, instead of looking at age, Alonso may look at his motivation and health as the guiding factors to determine for how much longer he wants to continue racing.
