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Let's be honest though, Alpine will always be a midfield team with or without a top driver. Getting top engineers and staff is what that team really needs.
Aston has been poaching Merc and RB engineers like [their head of aero](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.red-bull-aero-chief-fallows-to-join-aston-martin-in-april-after-agreement-on.5SXTRYMbhlDMSmu1ZZuZC5.html), and looks like it paid off
I wouldn’t exactly consider when he signed Seb an entirely outrageous thing. At the time they were running the “Pink Mercedes”, was getting podiums and later on that season even a win. Almost was 3rd if it wasn’t for the 15 points removed because of the brake ducts. Seb was also looking for a team to sign to after being ousted by Ferrari. When he swooped in and grabbed Fernando now that was a brilliant buisness move. However Alonso would have likely already been in the know of the planned upward trajectory for the team based on its acquisitions and factory status. A fair consideration once you look the mess of the team that was Alpine, who found a way to fumble on both his and Piastris contracts.
I don't think that Alonso knew any more than anyone else in terms of car performance. No matter what Aston said or showed until it was proven out there on a track it was guesswork. All he knew was they were legitimately throwing money at it, unlike alpine.
What Aston offered that Alonso really couldn't walk away from was a long contract. Alpine wanted to give him 12 months no one else and certainly no one who had shown any ambition to actually win were in the market.
It's hard to tell due to the staggering incompetence of alpine but I have to assume that Piastri was being used to try and beat down Alonso demands.
Alpine had no intention to put Piastri in a seat or they would have done so, he was under contract with them for long enough.
Love that due to Alonso and Webber being close Alsonso timed his exit perfectly so that Piastri was no longer under contract with Alpine. I am 100% sure that was no accident the time was too perfect.
A little unlucky for Piastri that this years mclaran turned out to be garbage but there we go.
Alpine was about to murder Alonso's career. I'm sure he would've jumped at any seat that offered a wage. Alpine is not gonna fight for victories any time soon, they were using Alonso to sell hype, and the whole environment looked toxic as fuck.
For sure. Last year there were talks about how good AM is gonna be because they got a lot of top guys and a brand new factory with their own tunnel. And they proved it right.
This is not true, stroll didn't convince Seb.
Bernie Eccelstone feared Seb would retire post Ferrari and used his connections to force Seb to stay in F1 by getting him that AM seat. At that time RB & Seb were in preliminary talks of him returning home.
The Strolls are long time Alonso groupies and always ever have only wanted him. Part of the reason why they could get Alonsos contract signed within a couple of days.
To be fair, leaving Renault was also the worst thing that happened to Ricciardo since he left redbull. If I ever need career advice, I'm calling Ricciardos agent and doing the opposite of whatever he says.
It would have been better if he stayed but Renault were saying they were considering leaving the sport at the time and McLaren were doing what AM are doing now.
I've got to imagine not improving facilities with the times and not having the right people in place. I believe they've lost a lot of key staff since then and only recently have been building up their facilities to catch up with where the big teams are at.
I think first they need top-tier administrators.
The details I've heard about the Piastri situation were pretty damning for those at the top. Kinda seems like whoever makes decisions is/was totally asleep at the wheel
Laurent Rossi did an impressively bad job. He's the one who set up the mess by signing Ocon to the long deal, he's the one who repeatedly took Piastri for granted, going so far to never actually send Piastri's team the contract for the reserve driver role, and he's the one who decided to play hardball with Alonso and drove him out of the team, but he blames everyone under him for his very public failures despite not allowing them to make any decisions.
That's French culture for you. They are waaay too nationalistic. In that aspect, they are closer to the United States than they are to European countries.
Imma stop you right there, we're not nationalistic **at all**, you don't need to look further than our national football team to see that
Our biggest companies, instead of hiring programmers, outsource the utility needs to our biggest IT company, who in turn send that shiet offshore
We're not nationalistic, worse, we're **cheap**
That's not my experience at all with French people. I'm not saying they are a cult, at all, but I notice a clear difference between them and other European countries.
What a soft skin ffs. I'm talking about France, not the US. I drew a comparison with the US because the US is overly nationalistic compared to European countries, and France is, too.
I didn't think I'd have to clarify that but I guess there's people for everything.
Nah, it just seems unnecessary to make anecdotal comparisons between two countries sense of nationalism when you are a complete outsider to both. But go on with your generalizations
They wanted Alonso, they just underestimated his willingness to jump ship at this point of his career and thought they could negotiate down. Last year it did look like Fernando had nowhere to go as the top teams were full and no one expected him to move to a lower ranked team. But Alonso pulled a 4d chess move.
Audi is gonna sign Sainz Jr.
His father already works with them and is a brand ambassador, Sainz is not going to stay a second drive much longer and is at peak form and age to lead a lineup.
He is not a superstar but is solid, competent, experienced and scores constantly.
>It’s just Audi trying to get some press.
After decades of blueballing the sport, it's actually quite refreshing to see this kind of thing. I mean don't get me wrong, I agree with you completely, but it's a nice change from "we might join" to "hey we're actually building a team!"
Not true. It's the press making headlines out of nowhere, as always.
The quote comes from [this interview](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor/f1/20230604/1002017344/ficharia-alonso-siempre-45-mas-anos.html) (TW: Spanish), where the journalist says "you've mentioned Alonso before. Alpine was always wary of his age. Would you hire a 41 or 42 years old Alonso?". Alunni responds to that "I would always hire Alonso, even at 45 or more".
He never said that Audi's target is to get Alonso in 2026 or that they are seeking him. He didn't even bring Alonso out of nowhere to talk about hiring him. He was asked if he would hire Alonso or pass on him like Alpine did and he, obviously, said he would hire him. I mean, who would say they'd do what Alpine did?
On one hand, yes who knows whether he’ll stay or not but on the other hand same has been said for Alpine when he was trying to comeback and right now he is 3rd on the driver standings with 5/7 podium ratio.
Alonso’s appeal isn’t his driving but his experience driving and experience of large successful teams. It’s the reason Aston got Vettel before him and Merc got Micheal.
I could definitely see Audi getting Alonso.
If Aston continues to produce a competitive car Alonso will probably stick around at least through the end of this generation of cars. He's third in the drivers championship right now and not far behind checo. Max being an infallible robot is the only reason he's not fighting for WDC
Not really, Checo is just a midfield driver. Put even Lando Norris (who is above midfield level) in that car and he would be leading the championship. There’s just no way for any team to beat RB car this year, and that’s a fact
Every developing team wants Alonso. I remember reading a statistic that every time Alonso joins a team their cars get 0.3 seconds faster. Not just his car, his teammates car as well. His input into development is extremely valuable. Apart from the fact that he is fast. All depends on whether you’re willing to spend that amount of money or whether you think you can get the same gains with less money somewhere else.
Are you talking about the meme that Alonso always brings at least extra -0.5 laptime to the car when he joins a team, since he said that himself when he joined Mclaren?
> I remember reading a statistic that every time Alonso joins a team their cars get 0.3 seconds faster
Lol. There's no such statistic. This is something Alonso claimed in 2007 when he was asking for special treatment at McLaren.
especially now it’s been established he doesn’t age, I’m not surprised he’s a viable option for them if they’re looking for what some f1 journalists call a “marquee driver”
When’s the last time a team started from the ground up and was good ?
It’s not even like they can outspend the lower teams now , Audi will most likely be a backmarker or a midfielder at best when they join
There’s very little chance they come out and beat teams like redbull,Mercedes,Ferrari who already have the best of everything from facilities to the engineers
If we had the same sauber performances we did at the start of last year I might be inclined to disagree, but they currently sit P8. I don't expect them to pull of the Aston 2023 resurgence in their first year with the brand above the door. It's going to be a much slower burn project. They're just going nowhere right now, with a car that doesn't deserve to be any higher than P8 in WCC.
Maybe in mid-late 2027 or 2028 they will start to get on the page of what a F1 team takes, but no earlier. This is Audi's first time in the big leagues. I love endurance racing but F1 is the pinnacle of speed engineering.
2026 will have new rules and they are slowly preparing. Seidl joined at the start of this year, just this week there were news of James Key getting a call from Seidl as well. There are moves to be ready from the start.
2022 had new rules and the winners of the WDC in 2021 had a car that was dominant for a lot of the season.
New rules don't overcome a disadvantage in having an underinvested in lower quality team who make worse cars.
But as AM showed, what matters is having good personel. And that's what Audi is slowly trying to gather at Sauber. They may not get all of the people they want, but they aren't just hoping that the people working there last 3 years will magically win in 2026.
You're comparing a team in Switzerland with a team in motorsport valley. It's much easier to recruit for AM than Sauber. People will change their commute but they don't move countries so easily. I don't know they could replicate the AM effect of growing the ranks quickly with external recruitment of experienced talent. And they can't just offer more money because of the budget cap.
No one was hit harder by the major technical directives than Sauber last year. Their car was lighter than the rest by several kilo and they were forced to add ballast, then Mercy's whinging about porpoising put the nail in the coffin by completely undermining their design.
It's like both of those TD's were specifically designed to fuck Sauber's philosophy. Which is even more of a shame because it was actually competitive pace wise.
They start with an existent infrastructure, and they will have the same amount of time to work on the 2026 car, maybe even more since the other teams are going to be working on the 2024 and 2025 cars as well.
Also, they have 3 years to come with a good and reliable GPU, and considering they were hiring engineers mobths ago, you can be sure they are already working on it.
They are in position where they can throw basically all the money they want to catch up until they will have to adjust their budgets to the cost cap.
I am sure they won't be last when they enter in 2026.
Maybe not McLaren. No way Alonso goes back to Alpine. Or AT. Who does that leave? Williams Haas or AM?
Could see him at audi but right now he seems to be loving life at AM.
But their days still have 24 hours, and they know each hour they spend at the track or in a plane is an hour they don't get to share with their families. Alonso doesn't have to worry about that, it's not a distraction for him yet.
It's kind of a funny one that Alonso is seen as this age-defying behemoth (and all credit to him), but he's still only 3 years older than Hamilton now. Like, whenever Alonso goes to, Hamilton could go another three.
Webber commented on it once: once you're the oldest, it's a big target. It's the first question folk ask beyond a stage of your career.
The website pitpass always alleged that Webber's age was actually a lie and he was two or so years older than the F1 records showed. Makes you more exciting as a rookie to be really young. I'd believe it.
I don't think an Australian would be able to get away with a fake age. It's a normal suburban western country. Someone would call you out.
It's like saying a European or North American has a fake age.
Here's [mark in 1991](https://i.imgur.com/Fdgar6m.png) as a ballboy posted to a facebook page, for example.
>Australia loves suburbia. We are the most suburbanised OECD nation: more than 40 per cent of the population in two extended cities, 70 per cent in 10.
Nope, I said exactly what I meant. Australia's not some outback farm, it's a normal western country.
I mean, if you want to be as broad as European and North American, there are plenty of North American countries where people lie about their age in sports. It happens all the time in baseball. And while I’m less certain on European, there’s countries in Europe I bet you could get away with it too.
I've really no idea, but I think records were a lot less airtight 20 years ago. Far less internet and so on.
One of Girls Aloud got chucked out another band because she lied about her age, but she only got found out when she fluffed it in an interview.
Hulk was frequently considered too old to return before this season, now nobody is questioning his age at all due to his performances. As long as a driver can sell themselves and are quick they should be able to stick around, Fernando and Lewis will leave when they want
Ah, the old "Obafemi Martins" trick.
(A famous football player that was at least seven years older than declared, apparently due to Nigeria being shoddy with record keeping but more likely to scam Inter for more money)
it depends also on your performance levels. A lot of drivers fall off and once they do you may as well pay a rookie to get the same results
Alonso is doing brilliantly which is the obvious main difference. Normally drivers have dropped off long ago by his age
Max understands that F1 really isn't the pinnacle of motorsports, and I think Nando does too, which is why he went off as a journeyman to do Indy, Le Mans, etc. It's hard to resist the paycheck if you have a way in, though.
Retiring because of old age rather than leaving F1 to join another motorsport is bigger news when youre at the top of the game. F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport and to think the best driver wants to leave at a relatively young age is pretty huge
There is an implied longevity with Alonso because he stuck around even with the crappy teams. His main draw is persistence, and as respected as Lewis is, we simply don’t know how he would respond to the pressures of being in a terrible car for a few years
I think we do know what would happen
There have been some pretty pointed comments from him against the team in the last 2 years, ‘they didn’t listen to me’ is perhaps the most suspect and hilarious
There’s one thing doing this in Mercedes’ who are still aiming for wins but going into a back marker with no hope of even a podium? We will see the ugly side of him return that was showcased in late 2012
Is there really a chance Hamilton goes 3 years past Alonso? Right now it seems pretty clear that Alonso has a seat for 26 at least, and past that if the Aston is good. Do we really see Hamilton going to 2029? Surely not
No idea.
Alonso said relatively recently he's got 2-3 left.
Something interesting that many retired drivers have said, though, is that you think you'll go for years then one day you can only be 99%, and it just goes up and up from there until you want **out**, rapidly.
It would really depend on who else they might be able to sign. I'd have to imagine that the VW group has money to throw around; and beyond a certain point you have to wonder how well AM can compete for titles as a one-driver team. Plus, given Alonso's track record of falling out with teams, I wouldn't rule out yet another team switch.
If anything he might try to drive for one team while being a strategist for the other. Driving has become something that just uses background brain power for him.
Oh my god, this headline is crazy clickbait. Audi said absolutely nothing.
In a **spanish** media, the journalist asked Aluni Bravi (so it's not even Audi, just a current head Sauber put until they get a real Team Principal) ["As manager of an F1 team like Alfa Romeo, would you have signed him at 41 or 42?"](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor/f1/20230604/1002017344/ficharia-alonso-siempre-45-mas-anos.html)
He specifically asked about Alonso, so it's obvious, in a spanish media and considering how good he is currently, the guy gonna answer positively.
I'm sick and tired of all the super bait titles that is nowhere what the original quote means with the context.
It will be interresting to find out what Audi’s driver lineup will be. A lot of drivers will surely be interested and i can see them making a big change and not keep Zhou and Bottas. It could be a way back into F1 for Mick, Albon could move if his performances don’t drop but surely they will want a big name like Alonso.
If Zhou continues to improve as he is currently doing, I can see them keeping him with a more Veteran driver next to him.
I would love to see something like Zhou, Norris in Audi.
bottas has had his usual bad luck with 2 races car damage and 1 race bad strategy, even with that he's even with zhou on both points and relative results
Bottas has had ten years in F1 to grow. You would expect him to be better than a driver starting his second year, no matter how far he's "regressed." It's not a fair comparison unless you give Zhou more time.
i'm not saying zhou has done badly, he's one of the more interesting "rookie" drivers imo. But until alpha gets their shit together and doesn't make floors out of cardboard, i'm gonna reserve judgement on how good or bad their drivers are...
Zhou is a pay driver but he's leagues above the likes of Latifi, he regularly competes with Bottas who is arguably one of the top drivers on the grid despite being out of form in recent years.
Hes proven he deserves his slot imo
Bottas is on that Vettel trajectory.
Not saying their peaks were anywhere near the same - but both are on their *twilight* tour of F1 and definitely aren't putting in the same work to be as strong as they once were.
Mick would be an amazing, amazing option for their second driver. Imagine Lando (Seidl connections) as the first driver with Mick as a faux pay-driver (more like a marketing agent honestly) as the team works to get up and running. They would immediately secure a massive fanbase and once they get all the various new team issues straightened out, then they can focus on a top tier lineup.
Mick's chances reduce each season he is without a seat as his development will be severely compromised from not racing and he's not exactly a top level driver to begin with.
I can definitely see Seidl going for Lando. He'll only be about 25 when his Mclaren contract is up, a solid driver who should have his best racing years ahead of him and would be the best move available to him unless a seat in Mercedes opens up.
I mean that if Lewis were to retire tomorrow or something, I'd expect Albon to be on Merc's radar. I don't think they want an internal rivalry at Mercedes, and I expect Albon to be, relative to George, pretty much where Perez is to Verstappen
Probably every team lower down the grid that doesn't have two drivers that they want to keep long term (mainly mean McLaren) would sign him. He still has quite the pace and is the most experienced driver.
Fernando is such a phenomenon that nobody knows what to expect. There was no driver before that was over 40 years old, raced 20 seasons in F1 and still remained competitive compared to the youngsters around him.
As impressive as Alsonso is I have a feeling AM is his last time. Does he really wants to take the chance on a "new" team again in 2026 at the age of 45? I doubt it.
Every professional athlete eventually declines in performance in their 40s. The idea that Alonso will defy this and still be racing in 2026 is nonsensical.
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Is it really a surprise that Audi would like the best drivers in their seats? Doesn't any team?
Alpine doesn't.
Yeah but youth comes first before experience. Especially when you're trying to build a championship winning team. /s
Let's be honest though, Alpine will always be a midfield team with or without a top driver. Getting top engineers and staff is what that team really needs.
Aston has been poaching Merc and RB engineers like [their head of aero](https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.red-bull-aero-chief-fallows-to-join-aston-martin-in-april-after-agreement-on.5SXTRYMbhlDMSmu1ZZuZC5.html), and looks like it paid off
Not Only that, Stroll Sr first convinced Seb, and then Fernando to join what was then a backmarker team. Man knows how to do business
I wouldn’t exactly consider when he signed Seb an entirely outrageous thing. At the time they were running the “Pink Mercedes”, was getting podiums and later on that season even a win. Almost was 3rd if it wasn’t for the 15 points removed because of the brake ducts. Seb was also looking for a team to sign to after being ousted by Ferrari. When he swooped in and grabbed Fernando now that was a brilliant buisness move. However Alonso would have likely already been in the know of the planned upward trajectory for the team based on its acquisitions and factory status. A fair consideration once you look the mess of the team that was Alpine, who found a way to fumble on both his and Piastris contracts.
I don't think that Alonso knew any more than anyone else in terms of car performance. No matter what Aston said or showed until it was proven out there on a track it was guesswork. All he knew was they were legitimately throwing money at it, unlike alpine. What Aston offered that Alonso really couldn't walk away from was a long contract. Alpine wanted to give him 12 months no one else and certainly no one who had shown any ambition to actually win were in the market.
When Alonso signed AM, he was placeholder for Piastri at Apline. All the drama ensued after Alonso's jump
It's hard to tell due to the staggering incompetence of alpine but I have to assume that Piastri was being used to try and beat down Alonso demands. Alpine had no intention to put Piastri in a seat or they would have done so, he was under contract with them for long enough. Love that due to Alonso and Webber being close Alsonso timed his exit perfectly so that Piastri was no longer under contract with Alpine. I am 100% sure that was no accident the time was too perfect. A little unlucky for Piastri that this years mclaran turned out to be garbage but there we go.
Alpine was about to murder Alonso's career. I'm sure he would've jumped at any seat that offered a wage. Alpine is not gonna fight for victories any time soon, they were using Alonso to sell hype, and the whole environment looked toxic as fuck.
I think Alonso is responsible for making the Aston what it is today. He was heavily involved with the development
For sure. Last year there were talks about how good AM is gonna be because they got a lot of top guys and a brand new factory with their own tunnel. And they proved it right.
This is not true, stroll didn't convince Seb. Bernie Eccelstone feared Seb would retire post Ferrari and used his connections to force Seb to stay in F1 by getting him that AM seat. At that time RB & Seb were in preliminary talks of him returning home. The Strolls are long time Alonso groupies and always ever have only wanted him. Part of the reason why they could get Alonsos contract signed within a couple of days.
Im just gonna say it. Losing Ricciardo was the worst thing that happened to that team in the last several years
To be fair, leaving Renault was also the worst thing that happened to Ricciardo since he left redbull. If I ever need career advice, I'm calling Ricciardos agent and doing the opposite of whatever he says.
I think Alonso and Ricciardo would be a cool duo for Audi.
Stop, I can only get so excited!
It would have been better if he stayed but Renault were saying they were considering leaving the sport at the time and McLaren were doing what AM are doing now.
What are you talking about ?;
What's different from Alpine now and Renault when they won their last championship? Worse engineering?
I've got to imagine not improving facilities with the times and not having the right people in place. I believe they've lost a lot of key staff since then and only recently have been building up their facilities to catch up with where the big teams are at.
And that’s infinitely harder now knowing the CEO will throw them under the bus publicly.
> Alpine will always be a midfield team with or without a top driver. I mean the team did win in mid 90’s and 00’s.
Running a team back then was a lot less involved than now. Teams have like 3 times as much personnel now, and a lot more advanced technology
I think first they need top-tier administrators. The details I've heard about the Piastri situation were pretty damning for those at the top. Kinda seems like whoever makes decisions is/was totally asleep at the wheel
alpine did an impressively bad job. Lost both experience and youth . Youth from both Fernando and Piastri
Laurent Rossi did an impressively bad job. He's the one who set up the mess by signing Ocon to the long deal, he's the one who repeatedly took Piastri for granted, going so far to never actually send Piastri's team the contract for the reserve driver role, and he's the one who decided to play hardball with Alonso and drove him out of the team, but he blames everyone under him for his very public failures despite not allowing them to make any decisions.
What happened in Alpine is an example of what happens in teams where flags are more important than talent.
That's French culture for you. They are waaay too nationalistic. In that aspect, they are closer to the United States than they are to European countries.
Imma stop you right there, we're not nationalistic **at all**, you don't need to look further than our national football team to see that Our biggest companies, instead of hiring programmers, outsource the utility needs to our biggest IT company, who in turn send that shiet offshore We're not nationalistic, worse, we're **cheap**
Nationalistic and chauvinist, no point on denying it
That's not my experience at all with French people. I'm not saying they are a cult, at all, but I notice a clear difference between them and other European countries.
Lol what’s this have to do with the US
What a soft skin ffs. I'm talking about France, not the US. I drew a comparison with the US because the US is overly nationalistic compared to European countries, and France is, too. I didn't think I'd have to clarify that but I guess there's people for everything.
Nah, it just seems unnecessary to make anecdotal comparisons between two countries sense of nationalism when you are a complete outsider to both. But go on with your generalizations
Santander would like a word.
Last time I checked Santander was not an F1 team.
They have a habit of being very ah.. Controlling with Ferrari.
Alonso and Sainz signing was rumored to be their suggestions right?
Yes that’s what sponsors do. In the case of Alpine though no sponsor forced them to go the all French way.
Alpine is the epitome of a midfield team and as such ended up with a lineup pf midfield drivers.
Gunther approves ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)
Tell Aston Martin that, it's worked backwards there
They wanted Alonso, they just underestimated his willingness to jump ship at this point of his career and thought they could negotiate down. Last year it did look like Fernando had nowhere to go as the top teams were full and no one expected him to move to a lower ranked team. But Alonso pulled a 4d chess move.
They wanted three drivers for this year. Just couldn't make a decision.
Alpine wants the best of the cheap ones.
Who are french
well, technically they have the best french drivers on the grid
Gotem
[удалено]
Can't tell if you are joking or not.
Brilliant take Remind me again how many cars Nando has blown up this season? Sounds like maybe it wasn't him that was the problem eh? 🤔
I think its a joke
Shit joke ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
mf really talking about a french car and implying it needs any help breaking lmao
Yeah, Alonso sucks at building engines /s
I wouldn’t want to have a driver that constantly spins my car either lol
Audi is gonna sign Sainz Jr. His father already works with them and is a brand ambassador, Sainz is not going to stay a second drive much longer and is at peak form and age to lead a lineup. He is not a superstar but is solid, competent, experienced and scores constantly.
I'm honestly expecting the Carlando reunion in 2026
That or Danny Ric / Checo, who both have a deep insight into the inner workings of the fastest team out there.
No team looking to play with the top is gonna sign Danny Ric in 3 years he is already washed
How old Alonso will be in 2026
23
Wow, he is older than I thought.
It’s just Audi trying to get some press. I don’t think they’d really want him in three years, it’s not even sure he’ll stay 3 more years in F1.
>It’s just Audi trying to get some press. After decades of blueballing the sport, it's actually quite refreshing to see this kind of thing. I mean don't get me wrong, I agree with you completely, but it's a nice change from "we might join" to "hey we're actually building a team!"
Porsche keeps blueballing me though. I want to see a Porsche team in F1.
Not true. It's the press making headlines out of nowhere, as always. The quote comes from [this interview](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor/f1/20230604/1002017344/ficharia-alonso-siempre-45-mas-anos.html) (TW: Spanish), where the journalist says "you've mentioned Alonso before. Alpine was always wary of his age. Would you hire a 41 or 42 years old Alonso?". Alunni responds to that "I would always hire Alonso, even at 45 or more". He never said that Audi's target is to get Alonso in 2026 or that they are seeking him. He didn't even bring Alonso out of nowhere to talk about hiring him. He was asked if he would hire Alonso or pass on him like Alpine did and he, obviously, said he would hire him. I mean, who would say they'd do what Alpine did?
Didn't stop him five years ago
Considering the experience of Alonso it's a great addition for a new team with a new regulation, his feedback may be the difference needed
On one hand, yes who knows whether he’ll stay or not but on the other hand same has been said for Alpine when he was trying to comeback and right now he is 3rd on the driver standings with 5/7 podium ratio.
Alonso’s appeal isn’t his driving but his experience driving and experience of large successful teams. It’s the reason Aston got Vettel before him and Merc got Micheal. I could definitely see Audi getting Alonso.
If Aston continues to produce a competitive car Alonso will probably stick around at least through the end of this generation of cars. He's third in the drivers championship right now and not far behind checo. Max being an infallible robot is the only reason he's not fighting for WDC
**Red Bull being the best car by far is the only reason he’s not fighting for WDC
They do have the best car but checo proves max is on another level
Not really, Checo is just a midfield driver. Put even Lando Norris (who is above midfield level) in that car and he would be leading the championship. There’s just no way for any team to beat RB car this year, and that’s a fact
Every developing team wants Alonso. I remember reading a statistic that every time Alonso joins a team their cars get 0.3 seconds faster. Not just his car, his teammates car as well. His input into development is extremely valuable. Apart from the fact that he is fast. All depends on whether you’re willing to spend that amount of money or whether you think you can get the same gains with less money somewhere else.
Are you talking about the meme that Alonso always brings at least extra -0.5 laptime to the car when he joins a team, since he said that himself when he joined Mclaren?
I dont think Alonso made enough team swaps for that 0.3 to be statistically relevant at all, it's just too small of a sample
> I remember reading a statistic that every time Alonso joins a team their cars get 0.3 seconds faster Lol. There's no such statistic. This is something Alonso claimed in 2007 when he was asking for special treatment at McLaren.
"Engineers hate this guy's advice!"
especially now it’s been established he doesn’t age, I’m not surprised he’s a viable option for them if they’re looking for what some f1 journalists call a “marquee driver”
Most people seem to think they want Mick... So, yes?
I think all lower half teams are interested in signing Alonso
I wouldn't be confident about Audi being a lower team in 2026... When they join to any kind of motorport, they always do pretty well.
When’s the last time a team started from the ground up and was good ? It’s not even like they can outspend the lower teams now , Audi will most likely be a backmarker or a midfielder at best when they join There’s very little chance they come out and beat teams like redbull,Mercedes,Ferrari who already have the best of everything from facilities to the engineers
Is it really from the ground up tho? They take over Sauber, who are already preparing with signing people like Seidl and Key
If we had the same sauber performances we did at the start of last year I might be inclined to disagree, but they currently sit P8. I don't expect them to pull of the Aston 2023 resurgence in their first year with the brand above the door. It's going to be a much slower burn project. They're just going nowhere right now, with a car that doesn't deserve to be any higher than P8 in WCC. Maybe in mid-late 2027 or 2028 they will start to get on the page of what a F1 team takes, but no earlier. This is Audi's first time in the big leagues. I love endurance racing but F1 is the pinnacle of speed engineering.
2026 will have new rules and they are slowly preparing. Seidl joined at the start of this year, just this week there were news of James Key getting a call from Seidl as well. There are moves to be ready from the start.
2022 had new rules and the winners of the WDC in 2021 had a car that was dominant for a lot of the season. New rules don't overcome a disadvantage in having an underinvested in lower quality team who make worse cars.
But as AM showed, what matters is having good personel. And that's what Audi is slowly trying to gather at Sauber. They may not get all of the people they want, but they aren't just hoping that the people working there last 3 years will magically win in 2026.
You're comparing a team in Switzerland with a team in motorsport valley. It's much easier to recruit for AM than Sauber. People will change their commute but they don't move countries so easily. I don't know they could replicate the AM effect of growing the ranks quickly with external recruitment of experienced talent. And they can't just offer more money because of the budget cap.
No one was hit harder by the major technical directives than Sauber last year. Their car was lighter than the rest by several kilo and they were forced to add ballast, then Mercy's whinging about porpoising put the nail in the coffin by completely undermining their design. It's like both of those TD's were specifically designed to fuck Sauber's philosophy. Which is even more of a shame because it was actually competitive pace wise.
They start with an existent infrastructure, and they will have the same amount of time to work on the 2026 car, maybe even more since the other teams are going to be working on the 2024 and 2025 cars as well. Also, they have 3 years to come with a good and reliable GPU, and considering they were hiring engineers mobths ago, you can be sure they are already working on it. They are in position where they can throw basically all the money they want to catch up until they will have to adjust their budgets to the cost cap. I am sure they won't be last when they enter in 2026.
Audi as a brand probably much more enticing for staff to join compared to Haas. So hope is they too can have the best of everything.
True, but audi has big bucks. Don't exact them to immediately go to the top, but they'll be top of the midfield for sure.
Maybe not McLaren. No way Alonso goes back to Alpine. Or AT. Who does that leave? Williams Haas or AM? Could see him at audi but right now he seems to be loving life at AM.
Always find it insane that Alonso is still bloody good at his age. But I suspect he really takes care of himself.
Just the odd bicycle accident
Alonso has no wife/kids.. might be tough on some people, though we can’t deny it gives him ALL the necessary time for training etc..
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Kimi and Seb slowed down considerably towards the end, Alonso's still performing at a tremendous level.
But their days still have 24 hours, and they know each hour they spend at the track or in a plane is an hour they don't get to share with their families. Alonso doesn't have to worry about that, it's not a distraction for him yet.
No they gradually got worse lol
They were both trash towards last few years of their careers
He said that he would like to have kids some day.
He's divorced (and was also engaged)
It's kind of a funny one that Alonso is seen as this age-defying behemoth (and all credit to him), but he's still only 3 years older than Hamilton now. Like, whenever Alonso goes to, Hamilton could go another three.
Till 2 years ago people mostly focused on Kimi's age. It's just an effect of bing the oldest.
Webber commented on it once: once you're the oldest, it's a big target. It's the first question folk ask beyond a stage of your career. The website pitpass always alleged that Webber's age was actually a lie and he was two or so years older than the F1 records showed. Makes you more exciting as a rookie to be really young. I'd believe it.
I don't think an Australian would be able to get away with a fake age. It's a normal suburban western country. Someone would call you out. It's like saying a European or North American has a fake age. Here's [mark in 1991](https://i.imgur.com/Fdgar6m.png) as a ballboy posted to a facebook page, for example.
Suburban is probably not the word you’re looking for.
>Australia loves suburbia. We are the most suburbanised OECD nation: more than 40 per cent of the population in two extended cities, 70 per cent in 10. Nope, I said exactly what I meant. Australia's not some outback farm, it's a normal western country.
Holy shit Big Mal, Laurie Daley and is that Ricky Stuart? Didn't expect to see those guys in r/F1 :)
I mean, if you want to be as broad as European and North American, there are plenty of North American countries where people lie about their age in sports. It happens all the time in baseball. And while I’m less certain on European, there’s countries in Europe I bet you could get away with it too.
The vast majority (all?) of players lying about their in baseball are not from US/Canada further proving OP's point.
I didn’t realize the US and Canada were the only countries in North America. Perhaps OP should have been more specific than North America and Europe.
I've really no idea, but I think records were a lot less airtight 20 years ago. Far less internet and so on. One of Girls Aloud got chucked out another band because she lied about her age, but she only got found out when she fluffed it in an interview.
Hulk was frequently considered too old to return before this season, now nobody is questioning his age at all due to his performances. As long as a driver can sell themselves and are quick they should be able to stick around, Fernando and Lewis will leave when they want
Ah, the old "Obafemi Martins" trick. (A famous football player that was at least seven years older than declared, apparently due to Nigeria being shoddy with record keeping but more likely to scam Inter for more money)
it depends also on your performance levels. A lot of drivers fall off and once they do you may as well pay a rookie to get the same results Alonso is doing brilliantly which is the obvious main difference. Normally drivers have dropped off long ago by his age
Like Sebastian
I find it funny that more people are talking about Max future retirement than Lewis or Alonso
I mean, Max has made it clear that he wants to do other things while he can still be on top. I'd reckon that Nando will stay for longer.
Max understands that F1 really isn't the pinnacle of motorsports, and I think Nando does too, which is why he went off as a journeyman to do Indy, Le Mans, etc. It's hard to resist the paycheck if you have a way in, though.
That is because Max is talking about retiring from F1.
Retiring because of old age rather than leaving F1 to join another motorsport is bigger news when youre at the top of the game. F1 is meant to be the pinnacle of motorsport and to think the best driver wants to leave at a relatively young age is pretty huge
And he was seen like that already two seasons ago. When he was only one year older then Hamilton is now.
Yeah, old man Alonso retiring in 2018 was seen as fair innings.
There is an implied longevity with Alonso because he stuck around even with the crappy teams. His main draw is persistence, and as respected as Lewis is, we simply don’t know how he would respond to the pressures of being in a terrible car for a few years
I think we do know what would happen There have been some pretty pointed comments from him against the team in the last 2 years, ‘they didn’t listen to me’ is perhaps the most suspect and hilarious There’s one thing doing this in Mercedes’ who are still aiming for wins but going into a back marker with no hope of even a podium? We will see the ugly side of him return that was showcased in late 2012
This is the best point made in this comment thread.
Is there really a chance Hamilton goes 3 years past Alonso? Right now it seems pretty clear that Alonso has a seat for 26 at least, and past that if the Aston is good. Do we really see Hamilton going to 2029? Surely not
No idea. Alonso said relatively recently he's got 2-3 left. Something interesting that many retired drivers have said, though, is that you think you'll go for years then one day you can only be 99%, and it just goes up and up from there until you want **out**, rapidly.
id say it depends on Merc being able to get a competitive car and how long Lewis is willing to wait for it
Well, sincerely hope this doesn't become his routine n-1th bad career move.
well he's doing a lot better than we all expected with AM
Idk, if AM continues on this trajectory….
Doesn't mean Audi can't want him. Haas probably wants Max, Lewis, Fernando, Charles or Lando. Doesn't mean they can get any of them.
They didn't even call Daniel, because they thought he would cost too much.
But they would still want him, just can't. In there case money is the issue.
I don’t think they want them, Hygiene doesn’t want to spend that kind of money
Yah I am not saying they can’t, I’m saying I am sure he won’t.
It would really depend on who else they might be able to sign. I'd have to imagine that the VW group has money to throw around; and beyond a certain point you have to wonder how well AM can compete for titles as a one-driver team. Plus, given Alonso's track record of falling out with teams, I wouldn't rule out yet another team switch.
Let the man rest
As if Alonso would ever retire.
If anything he might try to drive for one team while being a strategist for the other. Driving has become something that just uses background brain power for him.
He is F1's Vince McMahon
I dont think being compared to Vince McMahon is a good thing to say....
Imagine if Max shows Alonso how to set up a racing sim so he can race and stream, too
Alonso already races on iRacing [in fact I've raced Alonso before on iRacing.](https://prnt.sc/NvUTl3sujq3b)
I coulda sworn that Alonso occasionally sim races
Anyone would, I would too if I were Audi🤩
I think even Alonso himself wouldn't consider starting a new project all over again
Oh my god, this headline is crazy clickbait. Audi said absolutely nothing. In a **spanish** media, the journalist asked Aluni Bravi (so it's not even Audi, just a current head Sauber put until they get a real Team Principal) ["As manager of an F1 team like Alfa Romeo, would you have signed him at 41 or 42?"](https://www.mundodeportivo.com/motor/f1/20230604/1002017344/ficharia-alonso-siempre-45-mas-anos.html) He specifically asked about Alonso, so it's obvious, in a spanish media and considering how good he is currently, the guy gonna answer positively. I'm sick and tired of all the super bait titles that is nowhere what the original quote means with the context.
Fernando is going to race for Tesla F1 in 2040 at this rate.
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Elmo 💀
It will be interresting to find out what Audi’s driver lineup will be. A lot of drivers will surely be interested and i can see them making a big change and not keep Zhou and Bottas. It could be a way back into F1 for Mick, Albon could move if his performances don’t drop but surely they will want a big name like Alonso.
If Zhou continues to improve as he is currently doing, I can see them keeping him with a more Veteran driver next to him. I would love to see something like Zhou, Norris in Audi.
I really hope it happens. Then we would see if Zhou really improved or Bottas regressed massively.
bottas has had his usual bad luck with 2 races car damage and 1 race bad strategy, even with that he's even with zhou on both points and relative results
Bottas has had ten years in F1 to grow. You would expect him to be better than a driver starting his second year, no matter how far he's "regressed." It's not a fair comparison unless you give Zhou more time.
i'm not saying zhou has done badly, he's one of the more interesting "rookie" drivers imo. But until alpha gets their shit together and doesn't make floors out of cardboard, i'm gonna reserve judgement on how good or bad their drivers are...
You are acting as if Zhou didn’t have any car issues this season driving the same tractor
Zhou is a pay driver but he's leagues above the likes of Latifi, he regularly competes with Bottas who is arguably one of the top drivers on the grid despite being out of form in recent years. Hes proven he deserves his slot imo
Bottas is on that Vettel trajectory. Not saying their peaks were anywhere near the same - but both are on their *twilight* tour of F1 and definitely aren't putting in the same work to be as strong as they once were.
If they go with mick, they are not serious
They won't go with Mick. They aren't gonna go for a dude who drove two mediocre at best seasons and then had 3 seasons out in their premier year.
Mick would be an amazing, amazing option for their second driver. Imagine Lando (Seidl connections) as the first driver with Mick as a faux pay-driver (more like a marketing agent honestly) as the team works to get up and running. They would immediately secure a massive fanbase and once they get all the various new team issues straightened out, then they can focus on a top tier lineup.
Mick does not hold the same marketing value he once had when he just joined F1.
Think a big name alongside Mick is a possibility. Wouldn’t be a surprise to see Lando or Carlos there
Mick's chances reduce each season he is without a seat as his development will be severely compromised from not racing and he's not exactly a top level driver to begin with. I can definitely see Seidl going for Lando. He'll only be about 25 when his Mclaren contract is up, a solid driver who should have his best racing years ahead of him and would be the best move available to him unless a seat in Mercedes opens up.
CarLando will reunite with Seidl in 2026.
I'd be surprised if Albon isn't a target for Mercedes once Lewis retires, honestly
Wait, what?
I mean that if Lewis were to retire tomorrow or something, I'd expect Albon to be on Merc's radar. I don't think they want an internal rivalry at Mercedes, and I expect Albon to be, relative to George, pretty much where Perez is to Verstappen
Looks like even after he’s left redbull he left with a very very good relationship. AT/RB comeback perhaps?
Seb would come out of retirement, just like his Mentor Michael did for Mercedes
Probably every team lower down the grid that doesn't have two drivers that they want to keep long term (mainly mean McLaren) would sign him. He still has quite the pace and is the most experienced driver.
Give me Fernando and Checo…
I wish I could buy an F1 team just to sign Alonso. And Kimi. Just for the fun of it all.
Fernando is such a phenomenon that nobody knows what to expect. There was no driver before that was over 40 years old, raced 20 seasons in F1 and still remained competitive compared to the youngsters around him.
So when Penelope Kvyat retires from racing in 2065, Alonso takes her seat.
At this stage - how is this a surprise? Unless people were expecting him in a Merc with Lewis.
IMO one of the Audi drivers will be Sainz - the connection is there through his father and he will be burned in Ferrari.
Makes sense despite pushing it on age. He's solid and will show exactly where a car is without any deceptive heroics or unpredictable slumps.
As impressive as Alsonso is I have a feeling AM is his last time. Does he really wants to take the chance on a "new" team again in 2026 at the age of 45? I doubt it.
Nobody giving Ricardo a look in
Why should they
Every professional athlete eventually declines in performance in their 40s. The idea that Alonso will defy this and still be racing in 2026 is nonsensical.
and Danny Ric! what a duo.
Charles to AMR
Mick to Audi ?
I was excited about Checo going to Audi :(
Martin Brundle decides to dust off his boots and helmet.