The Never Ending Driver Age Dilemma

[@mertcanhacfazloglu4862]

There is no dilemma. If you are performing like Alonso at the age of 50, you should race. If you are performing like Sargeant at any age, you shouldn't

[@mrbungle3310]

Well its a dilemma when they give platforms to people like that naomi girl that doesn't give sky anything...shes there because shes a black woman...i could name 1000 better people to be there,like palmer

[@john9289]

Lance Strolll

[@mertcanhacfazloglu4862]

@@john9289 stroll is very bad but not as bad as sargeant imo

[@kvmike8187]

stroll is in a competitive car and sargeant is in a shitbox and yet stroll is never competitive I honestly think sargeant would be better in an aston martin than stroll@@mertcanhacfazloglu4862

[@JuicedOnKids]

@@mertcanhacfazloglu4862 cos stroll has been here for over half a decade... omg he's been here for over half a decade. mein gott.

[@NavF1]

One of the weirdest dilemmas going tbh. Alonso is still performing very well, I can't believe some want him out just because he's 42. Same applies to LH haters

[@Nagi98]

Well said, what is this discussion anyway?

[@opposedscroll7596]

Except that Hamilton doesn't seem to be performing this year. He did an excellent job in 2023, but he looks slow in 2024

[@isaacmumby3624]

@@opposedscroll7596he's got the energy of someone who's given in their 2 weeks notice. He's just waiting to go to Ferrari.

[@RowskiF1996]

​@opposedscroll7596 He didn't start 2023 the best way either.

[@Zabijsie720]

@@opposedscroll7596ok by your dumbass logic, Russell should’ve been gone last year as well as Perez!

[@nomadic98]

If you're fast and competitive at 18 or 54 years of age, then you should be in Formula 1, but that's my opinion.

[@MrSilverfish12]

The older drivers have more sponsors and following and can help develope the car. Young drivers can be fast but thats not all a race team looks for these days.

[@Jout8-re1ij]

⁠​⁠​⁠@@MrSilverfish12 What kind of sponsors give old drivers advantage in F1. Do you realize that the oldest lasting drivers in F1 are also the best drivers in F1, like Räikkönen, Alonso and Hamilton who are F1 world Champions and still Alonso and Hamilton show results to this day, so thats why they are driving, while Räikkönen wanted to retire himself in 2021. Yes teams are looking for you to be absolutely fast, when if you are fast. You can fight for Championship and then last over decade in F1. Thats why Verstappen was promoted to F1 as 17 year old, because he was very fast. Bad and slow drivers otherwise typically last max three seasons in F1, because they dont score enough points. Example of it is Mazepin who lasted only one season scoring zero points and so he is propably never comming back to F1 ever again. The team does everything releated to car, so they are for sure looking for fast drivers, but it depends how fast you are in what seat you get in F1 and how long you last in F1.

[@AYURBHATTA]

Older driver being just an average driver and taking the seat of a younger driver would have been bad but we are talking about legendary Fernando Alonso here, if he was lucky with good cars he would've been in the GOAT conversation and possibly THE GOAT, so he deserves an F1 seat no matter what age.

[@Alsael]

Even current Hamilton who is washed is still better than most of the grid. It doesnt matter how old hamilton and alonso get, if they are above average they should stay no matter how old they get, specially when they are both still top 2-5 drivers depending on how you'd rate them

[@Michael-lu2tz]

@@Alsaelthis is what really irks me… considering all of their accolades and careers in general alonso and hamilton are both top 5 all time (2 and 3 respectively, in my opinion) and still top 5-6 out of the current grid, them deserving a drive shouldn’t even be a question. why people call for legends like alo and ham to retire over mediocre, currently washed drivers like bottas, perez, stroll, and ricciardo + the haas duo to some extent is just beyond me

[@pear4576]

It's a real shame he lost to Lewis in 2008, but in another universe, Alonso would've secured 5 titles where he was in the running and possibly more. He's an amazing driver and he's outperforming young drivers.

[@AnarRamazanov-po5le]

​@@pear4576it was in '07 because in '08 Alonso was in Renault and it was Massa that lost to Lewis

[@daarom3472]

​@@Michael-lu2tzI wonder what your top 5 is then. Assuming Schumacher is your #1, you rate Alonso above Senna, Prost, Fangio, Verstappen?

[@alanr4845]

The problem is pay drivers like Stroll versus actual talented drivers like Alonso

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Wish Aston had actual 2 cars to fight for positions ffs

[@klyplays]

pay drivers are the reasons we have 10 teams on the grid lmfao, otherwise, it would be mercedes, Ferrari and two Redbulls only

[@sylvanusblimpo154]

@@klyplays that take is just wrong ngl

[@kriaz9916]

the problem isnt pay drivers, its shitty pay drivers. A lot of drivers start out as pay drivers even though they havea lot of talent

[@dragroch5536]

Definitely. Stroll would have been as terrible as a common 90's pay driver if it wasn't for the cars having every single technical convenience. Perhaps Rosset or Inoue type of terrible.

[@stu8758]

Stick young drivers in the sprint races, make it construction points only, each team has to run one reserve driver

[@Bisstoro]

its the only idea for sprints that i dont dislike, still how about no sprints? xd

[@liukin95]

Whenever there's points on the line teams will never agree to that.

[@R3DK1NG121]

​@@liukin95i dont see why they wouldn't agree, it's a leveled playing field. Maybe crashes during the sprint shouldn't affect the yearly budget.

[@EbyanAden]

Honestly that's a great idea

[@The_ZeroLine]

That’s what I’ve wanted to see for a long time. Specifically, hold two sprint races w/each team running one of their regular drivers in one car and a rookie in the other. Both of their drivers run in one of the races and the rookie can run in both races or they can choose a different rookie for each. That’d be much exciting. Any damage wouldn’t count toward the budget cap and the engines and gearboxes would be in a special pool just for the sprints.

[@joshuafleckenstein351]

Alonso, as usual, was producing some of the best wheel to wheel racing last year, and was probably the most entertaining driver on the grid. I want the best drivers on the grid, I don’t care how old they are. If anything, assuming they’re still fast, older and more experienced drivers produce better racing.

[@AMGU2B]

Indeed Alonso was the highlight driver of the season. It's as if people don't want to have a fun show or something. There's like 18 other drivers that could be replaced before Alonso.

[@RexytheRexy]

Exactly. If you're performing at that level, I don't care how old you are. This entire "dilemma" is ridiculous. With the way Alonso drives, why would any fan want him to leave the sport (especially when there are multiple drivers on the grid who aren't performing well at all).

[@sebastiang.4266]

Alonso and Hamilton are not holding anyone up, as a Ricciardo fan i can say that Ricciardo, Sargeant and Stroll are ocupating seats that they do not deserve

[@SavvyMon4]

Bottas, Zhou, K-Mag, and Sushi Tsunoda are all waste of seats as well. Don’t even get me started on the Alpine team

[@EbyanAden]

I get why people are picking on ricciardo but it doesn't make sense we're only 2 races into the season and everyone forgets how badly yuki was performing at the end of the last season and how yall were saying that ricciardo and lawson would be the perfect lineup

[@SavvyMon4]

@PaulJones-wp5eb yeah not the drivers but the team is a waste of a grid slot

[@sebastiang.4266]

@@SavvyMon4 for me zhou and tsunoda are not holding anyone back, bottas and kmag should be out. My dream scenario is hauger and druguvich to Aston (if Alonso decides to retire) bearman to Hass, Antonelly to Williams, Lawson to Vcarb and Sainz to Mercedes.

[@tomm1413]

​@@EbyanAdenyou've already forgotten his stint at McLaren? And the races he did last year weren't anything special either. I love Ricciardo, but he has to pick up the pace or leave

[@FarmerEnvoyXtreme]

could be a number of things 1. The cars have become easier to drive 2. The ability for current young generation of drivers to get to the quality to drive a difficult car (opposite to 1) thanks to modern science and training when it comes to educating and building up these future and potential champions. With Alonso, he just A GOAT, could literally race upto the day before his funeral at this rate

[@extragoogleaccount6061]

Yea I gotta imagine true Sim rigs have changed the game. 15 years ago you couldn’t get “seat time” without being in the car.

[@zvonimirpusic6702]

and Ralf's brother was in F1 at the age of 43...

[@diegopuijk9803]

Ralf Schumacher has a habit of talking bollocks…

[@flyingphoenix113]

And getting better with age! 2012 was his best season both objectively and comparatively of the three seasons he had at Mercedes. His average qualifying position was higher, and his average finishing position was higher as well. Had he stayed for 2013 and 2014, I have no doubt that he would have beaten Rosberg. Crazy to think that he could have easily dominated the turbo hybrid era as well had just a few things ended differently...

[@Hebhansen]

Rolf’s son David is somewhere in the prospect pool. That’s a motive right there

[@Jrh-rp7np]

Ralf’s brother was the greatest of all time..And he did ride off into the sunset for a younger driver… Btw he was instrumental in getting Mercedes on board and investing in F1 and in alternate universe had Michael signed his contract extension for Mercedes and really wanted to stay,, We would of Had Schumacher and Nico as teammates,, and maybe Lewis stays at McLaren or maybe goes to Red Bull or Ferrari..

[@zvonimirpusic6702]

Michael was getting better in his comeback career. And I always enjoyed watching him... especially in 2012. He left the formula in 2006, after a lot of success and after it could be seen that the people he was surrounded by at Ferrari would leave. I don't see a problem with older drivers in F1. Because there will always be maybe a couple of exceptions..Alonso, Hamilton. Maybe this generation won't stay in F1 that long.

[@Jaytalise]

I don't get the argument of ''older drivers are just holding seats and younger ones can't get any''. Makes no sense to me at all like the older drivers didn't get these seats by driving, working there asses off etc... ''oh your old, let the young ones have a go''. Yeah they're YOUNG, so they have time, snap them up as a reserve, let them learn how F1 works inside then out. Piastri is a great example of this.

[@sebastianahrens2385]

If only there was a way to get more available seats per season... HMMMMM. And like many others have already stated: It'd be blown away to see Fernando race competitively at 50. If he's still good enough, he absolutely deserves a seat. Last year's overtake in Brazil was one of the best moments of the season for me. I'd love to get more of those.

[@illdeletethismusic]

i really hope he gets to set the oldest champion record, after having set the youngest champion record earlier in his career

[@gregd806]

If they want a Younger grid, add more teams...

[@ThomasFerguson22]

My thought exactly

[@ajinkyakhanzode5015]

I think this is proving that the sport is really a mind game. You can play as long as your body supports you.

[@ChrisDornDorny]

If the talent, determination and speed is still there then there is no reason for an older driver to stop. Alonso is still performing amazingly. Yeah if an older driver is just roping it in, in a mid field team, then yeah they need to go. As much as I loved Vettel and Kimi, you could tell in those last few years, they were basically done, the fire and speed was gone and they were just using up a spot. At that point yes the new generation should take priority. But im not seeing that with say Alonso.

[@souldevil6997]

Nando is rare

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

Vettel wasn’t “basically done” did you watch him in 2022? Aston Martin are still thankful for his efforts, as we should be

[@GameOver-nm2us]

I don't think Vettel is anywhere NEAR past his best, the guy just wants to win, and ONLY win

[@vestyycpn9265]

Vettel for sure wasnt basically done... he was still amazing in 2021 and 2022

[@cessactdm]

they dare to say this about one of the most quite arguably skilled not just F1 drivers but also most complete motorsports drivers of all time aka Fernando "El Plan" motherfucking Alonso? shame.

[@illumitabris]

Schumacher sounds salty that he became washed while Alonso continued his performance.

[@boom2055]

also alonso beat michael

[@mb-storm4615]

I think it's more because he wants to see Mick back in F1 again. Alonso is still too good to retire though.

[@spikeguard]

Ralf was there mostly because he was Michael's brother.

[@liukin95]

I've really disliked the agism that has run rampant in F1 for the past few years now. It doesn't matter if you're 18 like Bearman or 42 like Alonso... if you can get a team results then you deserve a place on the grid.

[@Waywind420]

Alonso Driving f1 at age *42* Justin Gatlin breaking the 10 second barrier (regularly) at age *39* Johnny sexton playing great at the Rugby World Cup at age *38* Clayster keeping up with the youngins on CoD at age *31* Messi winning the world cup at *35* I like people who overcome the stigma around age. If you're good enough age doesn't matter.

[@soumyadipghosh2425]

I personally think Aston Martin should replace Stroll with Sainz..Alonso's performance level has to be benchmarked..I am pretty sure it will help team to get better..

[@metal4ever516]

Stroll has got to go. If his pops didn't own the team, he wouldn't be in F1.

[@jondonnelly3]

The team is there for Strolls enjoyment and advancement if that is still possible. If Lance gave up racing, his dad would straight up sell the team. Alonso is the best mentor, Lance might not have any innate talent but he enjoys racing and F1 is not all about the driver, perfect car, perfect teamwork and tactics and someday even Lance could win a race.

[@samkelo27]

​@@jondonnelly3 Stroll would need a car like the 2023 redbull and season along with Alonso having an off day/ bad luck to win a race and that's a hard combination to get right

[@nicholas8363]

All these people saying Alonso taking away seats from younger drivers really didn’t watch how he literally beat basically every young driver in a car that was very up and down at time in 2023 and in my opinion was the second best driver last year behind max given the machinery he had to exactly the same case with Hamilton to

[@kuba_t11]

lawrence stroll talks about aston martin becoming a “title challenger” to mercedes and ferrari. i think it’s a matter of time before he begins to realise that lance is significantly holding them back

[@liukin95]

Deep down he knows Lance is holding them back, but he's living out his own F1 dream through his son, so he won't switch him out for a better driver.

[@rhodrage]

Lance goes, Aston goes.

[@mjarmes]

I 100% agree with you, the goal should be to have the highest quality drivers in the sport. Age is completely irrelevant, performance is all that matters. These comments made about Alonso/Lewis are ridiculous...

[@A2Savvy]

Out of the 2 Aston drivers we all know who has taken up a seat for too long and it isnt the one whos pushing 50

[@GameOver-nm2us]

Pushing 50 is a stretch, we have 8 years to go, he's pushing 45 maximum

[@Nagi98]

Fernando and Lewis are Multiple World Champions. I don`t care how skilled they are, 18yrs old Rookies are 18yrs old...well, Rookies.

[@AMGU2B]

Alonso is still a top 3 driver, and has always been one of the best drivers on the grid every single season. Talent does not come or vanish with age. Hamilton was immediately one of the best drivers on the grid on his debut season and still is. The same with Max. Greatness is innate in most cases. And as long as a great talented driver is in good physical form, there is no reason to want him out of this sport. In fact, I am going to say this: the return of Alonso has brought a lot more excitement to this otherwise boring and predictable competition. Particularly since he moved to Aston, he has been more often than not the highlight of every weekend. And also, Lewis's move to Ferrari will also bring a lot more excitement than seeing the new overhyped young driver coming to F1. And I am quite certain that he will be ale to beat Leclerc, or at least make it very tough for Charles.

[@Duval-In-The-Wall]

If Alonso is a top 3 driver than Ocon is top 5 and have fun with that argument

[@AMGU2B]

@@Duval-In-The-Wall If Alonso is not a top 3 driver then who is? Go ahead.

[@user-pk8uf3er7v]

I’ve noticed not only in F1 but also other sports alot of players seem to be able to play a lot longer and at a high level longer than normal. Idk if it’s the training, or PEDs, or the nutrition or if somehow they’re aging better due to environmental factors.

[@hyphydan]

PED for sure

[@AhmadRiyal]

Fernando deserve to be there. The only one blocking seats is Lance

[@ilzee_vk]

Youth is not a ticket to F1. Experience and skill are. I don't like the idea of pushing out older people from sports or jobs, we all get older and there are plenty of non F1 series where drivers can race before F1. It's not the only sport in the world.

[@GameOver-nm2us]

While I do agree the older but faster (Alonso, Hamilton, Hulkenberg) shouldn't be kicked out because they spun round the sun a lot, but F1 is also regarded as the pinnacle of motorsport, every racing driver dreams to drive there, I would be mad if I had the chance to enter F1 just to be denied for the likes of Riccardo or Stroll, and instead be put in the side to drive in FE or Indycar

[@ilzee_vk]

@@GameOver-nm2us that's true but you should not be held back by a Logan Sargeant either.

[@GameOver-nm2us]

@ilzee_vk yes you get the point, of the driver is slow, out, that's how it works 🤷🏼‍♂️

[@hyphydan]

@@GameOver-nm2us Its not the "Pinnacle of Motorsport", Endurance Racing is.

[@GameOver-nm2us]

@@hyphydan alr bud

[@dadhats]

would love to see more of these young f2 champs compete in another series after f2 instead of just waiting around in a reserve role. maybe super formula or Indy car?

[@climberkitty6683]

I saw someone say that they should give teams with a rookie a higher cost cap/ crashes shouldn’t be counted towards the cost cap to encourage teams to sign young drivers

[@MrAlexFortis]

How fitting that Alonso was one of a few drivers to have a firm stand when Max have made his debut at 17 age. Alonso said that age is a number in your passport. Now, when he is over 40 it is still a number in your passport (although there's no age number in passport, but you've got an idea).

[@TheEmolano]

Those test restrictions create a two problems: 1-Not enough time to test rookies to know who's wroth 2-Roolies don't get enough time with the car so it can take more than a year for them to be competitive 2007 will never happen angain because of this rule alone

[@alphaevolution]

Watch F2 or F3 if you want to see more younger drivers. If someone is good enough, they should be driving in F1. There's only 10 teams and 20 drivers and not every "promising" driver gets a chance. Unfortunately that's life. We could have a discussion about how some drivers get opportunities that aren't based on their racing accolades and kids get priced out but no pundit wants to talk about that.

[@ApplesAndOranges188]

As long as stroll is in f1 i didn't mind older drivers still being in f1

[@eliasgrewe2597]

Conversations that are brought up by the media make a story. If you perform at any age better than others you deserve the seat.

[@joostprins3381]

Weird thing is that I rate Lawson higher then Bearman, what he showed at Zandvoort was really a masterpiece. Second is that a debut in a Ferrari is somewhat different then in a AT. AT was the worst car of the field, the Ferrari is the second car. So let’s wait before we again have the next Max driving around, because Piastri has to perform this year, and I still have to see it.

[@ChristosTzoannis]

If u actuall want to see how good Alonso is currently get stroll tf out that AM

[@souldevil6997]

Or just put nando in perez seat

[@er_drobo3545]

alonso is top 3 in terms of driving skills right now at 42 years of age

[@MiguelMedV]

*"Formula 1"* is supposed to be "The *Best* Drivers in the world", not "The youngest capable drivers", no matter the age 🤷🏻‍♂️. Thank you for bringing sense & reason back into the equation 😁💪🏼🏆...

[@iibnbiibn]

a sainz + alonso combo would be amazing to watch. and as much as i want to see bearman in 2025, putting him in a haas would be borderline child abuse lmaoo

[@jackglazzy7889]

I mean he still got hella podiums last season and is def a top 5 drive sigmalonso the goat

[@andrewsoles5150]

alonso is one of the greatest "plug" in my opinion. He is "pluging" F1 seats so that the driver in F1 doesn't just come and go because of old age, but made it so that drivers that are about to coming in getting sort out, then the level of competition in F1 would become even more thightly packed. If there are a driver that getting sort out, that means F1 get the best driver out of them

[@chronixdubz]

I think the FIA should authorize teams to use other drivers in testing like allocate 200-300 laps every couple weeks and force teams to actively work with the younger talent so when they have their debut they dont get smashed in a race but also i think it should be associate drivers like oh youre probably gonna race at my team so you take these test laps

[@ndou03]

We need more teams in formula 1

[@metal4ever516]

That's the real answer.

[@KangaRooTube]

Remove Hass and RB and give every other team an extra driver and car. You then get 24/26 seats. Then if you increase the seat limit by one Andretti can join and max out the F1 grid with 27 seats. You won't just have more seats but more drivers in competitive cars.

[@kuba_t11]

no one is agreeing to this. james vowles summarised the andretti dilemma perfectly. it’s not about not wanting andretti in f1, it about ensuring that every team is financially strong enough before there’s any additions to the sport. and he has a point. there used to be 24 cars on the grid. and look at how many teams between 2008-15 exited f1 because they couldn’t afford it.

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

​@@kuba_t11Comparing Andretti to the likes of HRT and Caterham is just disrespectful.

[@sadown4490]

​@@patepulkkinenvtec2403He didn't compare Andretti to HRT or Catheram... There are teams ALREADY on the grid that are struggling financially. Adding new teams would mean putting them under more stress (for their revenue share becomes smaller if there are 11 teams and not 10).

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

@@sadown4490 How is it Andretti's problem if the other teams can't keep up with the competition, wheter its regarding performance or finances? Sink or swim, and if a new team makes your life too difficult, too bad. If that's an issue, maybe you shouldn't have joined a competetive sport in the first place. By the way, the revenue share shouldn't be an issue because it's the job of Liberty Media to increase the prize money pot anyway since the sport is booming.

[@sadown4490]

​@@patepulkkinenvtec2403It's not his problem, but if bringing Andretti (or in general an additional team) put other teams at risk then it's not worth it. What if two teams fail? F1 is left with 9 teams on the grid, so you kinda obtain the opposite result. Don't get me wrong, I would love to have an 11th team on the grid, even a 12th!!!

[@thedailygrind8]

my thoughts have always been this, "If they are performing well, they can race for as long as they can" instead of forcing out older extremely good drivers like Alonso we need more seats on the grid, Bring in Andretti F1

[@amarjeetsinha8733]

We should replace the bad drivers, age doesn't matters. Alonso is still one of the best in the grid at the age of 42.

[@JohnDoe-gf5he]

Alonso is still one of the best and has a big brand value. Why would you as a team get rid of so much value for some lottery potential?

[@Hebhansen]

Vesti is a mystery to me!? Almost winning F2 only to take a chair in the paddock for 24. I hope he will get a chance, as Bearman for a race in a Williams or Mercedes, just to show the flag. I do not see Sergeant in F1 next year. This could be a Vesti seat for 25, if not switched during the year. No seat next year, I do not think he will get into F1. No playing time, no spot at the World Cup.

[@tejathelegend]

Sergeant never deserved the William’s seat in the first place imo. He wasn’t ready for F1 and they threw him in there. There’s so many other F2 drivers and F2 champs that deserve his seat

[@Noble98]

They need more cars on the grid, that's the problem. Everyone will always be unhappy that x driver doesn't make it that they really think would've been good or deserved it. Look at Piastri getting sidelined. An extra 4-6 seats wouldn't allow everyone to get in, but would make enough room to make sure there is a seat for the most promising f2 talents.

[@The.Fake.Adam.Lulich]

In my opinion. Saying someone shouldn't be on the grid based on their age is the same as saying, someone black, or female shouldn't be because of their race or gender. it's an irrelevant number that they can't control. The only numbers that should count are the driver's lap times.

[@fin-ed6oj]

I'm still gutted that Robert Shwartzman is never going to get his chance (most likely)... I'd like to see him, Pourchaire, Vesti, Doohan, Drugovich, Iwasa and Lawson all get a chance. Not to mention the F2 drivers who will likely do well this season; Maloney, Maini, Bearman, Antonelli, Martins.... I think it's really sad that out of all of those talents, only a few of them will ever take part in a Grand Prix

[@benben3409]

Getting rid of Magnussen, Riccardo, Sargeant and possibly Stroll and Bottas, along with giving Andretti an entry, would give space for 7 junior drivers, including the likes of Frederik Vesti, who really should've won the 2023 F2 title in just his second season vs Pourchaire's third, Theo Pourchaire, who was the champion in F2 2023 along with nearly matching Oscar Piastri in most junior categories while being 2 years younger, Felipe Drugovich, who dominated the likes of Sargeant and Pourchaire in F2 in 2022, Oliver Bearman, Victor Martins, who while being older than Bearman has been able to beat him in multiple categories, and possibly Andrea Kimi Antonelli if he improves throughout the F2 season

[@GamingEditzz-f1q]

Alonso has been inthe league for years now...crazy how time flies.

[@jakopete1]

You forget Frederik Vesti, the Mercedes Academy driver that absolutely deserved to win the Formula 2 Championship last year, just Bad luck made him number two.

[@botortamas]

The seat blockers are as follows in this particular order. #1 Sargeant - the guy is just not built for this plain and simple. Basically just another Latifi. #2 Stroll - we all know this. No explanation needed. #3 Bottas - the guys been invisible at the back of the pack for almost 2 years now unable to string together a decent weekend. #4 Danny Ric - keeps disappointing race after race since his return. Pretty soon he won’t be racing for that RedBull seat but just to be kept on at alpha tauri. #5 Zhou - just there so China has some representation in F1. I can’t believe Aldas even mentioned Kmag when basically performance wise he’s on par with hulk. That drive alone last time out deserves a years worth of credentials.

[@juanmestre6195]

Ricciardo, Bottas, Magnussen, Stroll, Sargeant and Perez (at least for RB) are very prescindibles in my opinion.

[@thomasredden4263]

Age has nothing to do with how he is performing, it can often predict future performance, but there is always outliers and Alonso is most certainly that. It’s not his job to roll over and let someone take his seat. If you want it, be better. Don’t expect it to be given to you. And don’t belittle what Fernando is still able to do in the car as just a matter of experience. He’s driven in so many different eras of cars and has adapted his driving style so many times, even goin way unconventional in the way he drove the Renault the first time around to win 2 titles. He is one of the greatest race craftsman of all time and he deserves to be praised as such and allowed to run as long as he’s running like this

[@AMGU2B]

Spot on comment. Alonso is a true living legend. These Netflix fans that question him and want to see him replaced with the nth overhyped young driver cannot appreciate greatness when they have it right before their eyes. They will regret it when their wheel knowledge matures.

[@RyanVargas_23]

For me, this trickles down to a lack of seats. The fact that the pinnacle of auto racing has only 20 (!!!) spots on the grid is very wild to me. There’s dozens of drivers capable and ready to race in F1, but can’t because of the lack of opportunities.

[@mixenne]

I absolutely agree with your opinion of performance mattering and not age. Focusing on age just seems like ageism. I'd say the same applies to teams too. If a team is consistently performing horribly year after year, there should be no reason not to give their spot to a new team who would perform better.

[@pooledogg775]

Every year the bottom team should have a third car the following season for the F2 champion. This is funded by the FIA. They don't score constructor points and get a basic salary on a 1 year contract which they are automatically released from at the end of the year. The team gets no extra funding or testing and has to split it over the 3 drivers. After a year all teams have a more informed option to sign them and every F2 champion gets at least 1 season in F1.

[@meatmanmagoo]

"You can't have a rookie with Lance Stroll" is a biting insult said so casually, love it.

[@anthonyemerson2965]

The dilemma isn’t that certain drivers are “blocking” younger drivers. It’s that F1 is blocking more seats on the grid. We need at least two more teams.

[@AugmentedGravity]

As Alonso said, age doesn’t and shouldn’t matter. What matters is how you perform. The problem then becomes how can you show how you perform if you’re not even given the chance in the first place? It comes back to the first point. People should be in F1 because of how they perform and on merit ideally. Then you have drivers like Stroll who isn’t there for any other reason really than his dad owns the team and money. He isn’t necessarily absolutely appalling (sometimes) but there are definitely others waiting in the wings who deserve that seat and opportunity more. This has always and probably will always be the case in F1 anyway. This also reminds me of the debates about diversity etc. You shouldn’t be forced to employ someone because of x. They should be employed because they are the best at what they do and who’s available. Now when it comes to some possible solutions to this “problem”. Drivers who definitely haven’t done enough to warrant their seat should loose it regardless. This is in a perfect world but isn’t really going to happen in the real world. Second, F1 as a whole needs to suck it up and get more teams on the grid. More seats = more opportunities. Simple. Easy. I also had an idea which i do not have the full answer to yet myself. I had a thought that maybe the FIA or F1 could put in a “default” team which is dedicated to new drivers and giving them the opportunity to show what they are capable of. Say the previous years F2 champion has a reserved seat at that team or something. How this idea would be “balanced” however i do not know. Another idea is to have at least one race in the season where at least one of the cars in each team is driven by a rookie or something, maybe even both cars just at one race maybe. Or lastly, each existing team would be made to have an additional 3rd car for a rookie in their driver program. How or if this would be logistically possible i do not know. Anyway, i don’t see this as a problem, i see this as someone making a problem out of something we already know.

[@mateivlad4425]

Too many drivers? We need more seats? We want more competition? One answer to all of these questions: Andretti

[@gabrielmora6144]

Sigmalonso Intensifies

[@lauchi6653]

just two years ago everyone was talking about how it makes sence for older more experienced drivers to take up seats in f1 because of the budget cap and younger drivers being morn likely to make expensive mistakes now it's the exact opposite

[@djabula64]

Even as a SCH fan, Ralf is being ridiculous and talking as a father as a young driver. Age has nothing to do with talent, same as the discussion about woman's in F1. If you are very fast, age or gender doesn't matter. Max proved that age doesn't matter, we just need a girl to prove this point. Still waiting. But when you say Alonso is blocking a seat of a teammate, you are ridiculous. Alonso is performing way better than Sargent, magnussen, gasly, ocon, bottas, tsunoda, Riccardo, Zhou and even hulkenberg. Alonso has his place on the grid on merit, same as Hamilton. Age aside, they are driving fast and their knowledge is priceless

[@LeMassiveNoob]

Sauber is probably the team with the biggest dillema. Bottas and Zhou are still both quality drivers, but they are pursuing the big fish of Carlos Sainz, whilst simultaneously having an F2 champion in Theo Pourchaire and the current F2 Championship leader in Zane Maloney. Unless Bottas makes a comeback to Mercedes for a season to partner up with Russell and Zhou takes his bags of Yuan to Haas, Sauber are in for one hell of a conundrum.

[@billhoult3262]

Bottas is so insanely overrated right now. He was good at Mercedes in 17, 18, and 19. He was slow and mistake-prone throughout 2020 and 21, being shown up big time by Russell when he sat in in Sakhir, and not once defending against Max in 2021. He has since failed to dominate Zhou, a driver who was never impressive in Junior Formulas, and Zhou now looks the better driver at Sauber. Bottas should retire this year before Sauber bring in a stronger driver that will embarrass him. I predict an all-new lineup, maybe Ricciardo and Maloney, at Sauber for 2025.

[@mrbungle3310]

It would be very sad to see fernando leave now...when he first left i was more ok with it because he had no competitive car and i wanted him to go to indycar...now hes older and he was so near the 33th win...i feel like he made me more interested because of that aston stint Honestly im 22 but i love the older drivers...no one drives with his hands like Fernando,and its not like charity like Ricciardo or Vettel when they show no results...fernando still is top class There seems to be a hate of older people than 30 in modern media latley wich is sad,its obvious you are at your peak in your late teens and 20s but that doesn't mean anything case to case

[@lllouise9]

It's not about age, it's about TALENT. Alonso's still getting podiums and overperforming the car. Ollie also deserves a seat. I wish people would have the common sense to think that it's not about who WAS winning titles, it's about who's performing NOW based on their teammate and racecraft (who gets more points, strategic, can defend position, etc). In F1 (and in most sports), it's all about performance, not age.

[@zackh7450]

Why is logan even on the grid? Like hes clearly the slowest

[@ally-o-oreo6090]

Personally, I would love to see the teams be required to use the reserve drivers for two sprint races every year. Show the young talent give the up-and-coming drivers a chance to prove themselves. I think it might be a way to showcase the Holland of the up-and-coming drivers against the current Formula 1 field in Formula One machinery through the sprint races, and that that might actually help. If the teams can see how the reserve drivers stock up against the rest of the pack. I think it would really show a lot and could really be the difference maker.

[@aluwanimoyo4093]

The problem for me is how it seems so much easier to come back after hiatus. Ocon, Albon, Magnussen, Hulkenberg, Ricciardo - all drivers who were dropped but managed to spring back - those could have been rookies. I remember a time when only proven champions had that "power" to leave the series and then come back later. I think F2 itself just needs more prestige by itself and to be only seen as an F1 stepping stone when most of the field are guaranteed NOT to make F1. But from another point of view - maybe rookies for the sake of rookies isn't much of a strategy either - we had a team field Rookies in both seats not too long ago and they were a bit of a flop.

[@etcarief]

You know what, make team can have 1 more car for Sprint and make it only team's academy driver to battle out

[@patepulkkinenvtec2403]

If we would have another team on the grid it wouldmake this dilemma less painful. It would also help if we wouldn't have drivers being in the sport due to non-performance reasons: Stroll (rich daddy), Ricciardo (funny and marketable), Sargeant (nationality marketability boost) and Tsunoda (Honda plant) to name a few.

[@Scavs_Inc]

Having Alonso racing at 42 makes the sport so fun. The conversation should be had instead as to why Ricc, stroll and Seargent are blocking those seats. Even Kmag.

[@AMGU2B]

Even Bottas! There are many other drivers that could be replaced before Alonso. In fact, there are 18 other drivers. The only one deserving a seat as much as Alonso is Max.

[@christaylor9656]

Alonso was the 2nd best driver last year. It isn't him that is blocking seats for youngsters.

[@BarelyA1ive]

I still cant understand why tf someone wants Alonso to retire! He is almost in same level as max who is at absolute peak! Alonso still in f1 is blessing! Driver's who need to go out: Logan, kmag, Danny ric, stroll, Maybe(ocon or gasly😂)

[@TheDiasporaMedia]

at 2:00 mark the point of the video ended. You said “I wouldn’t mind him racing till 50 as long as performance” So why did you make this video. I agree with you 100%. This is a RSchmi Naiomi Schiff media created Arrow hunt pointed at Alonso. 😢Sad. The man is a living legend that deserves all our respect 🇪🇸 ✊🏾

[@Heibe]

Alonso is driving great. He definitely has earned and keeps earning his spot in the sport.

[@KingofWolvesii]

it's less than a driver age dilema, it's more the lack of teams ( and this is why you need 12 teams on the grid)

[@Cognizant-ut9oj]

Verstappen is the unbeatable prince in the moment. But Alonso is the KING. Ralph Schumacher was outwasched and done in his eraly 30s, was never world class.

[@TheJamonLance]

alonso is just a freak, drivers by his age usually underperform but not him. There is a rather large list of drivers who should lose their sit before alonso, and it would take quite a talented driver to outdrive most of them in a rookie season

[@TheOfficialMyk]

i said many times, F1 needs to be a 24 car grid. We need it to be 2 more teams so we can have a new points system, imo. I would have points up to 12 or 14/15 for a 24 car grid.. Mid field teams that are p12-15 in the race right now are not fighing for points in the CWC, unless they get that amazing HAASTERPLAN and joink a point or two. With more points on the line for mid field, or back of the grid teams we should get more interesting racing, not only at the front ( although 2024 its been a sleeper so far ), but some worthy action at the back, with teams having to race and risk it for some points and young talent can show their skills in F1. With 2 more teams we can get 4 more drivers and more chances of young talent to get into F1, and not only for some P1 at the end of the year and etc. I know its not a perfect solution, but i believe its a start. And i understand that F1 is all about the $$$ and other teams don't want to share what they already get.

[@spammus1]

Whenever people say "we need younger drivers" I just remind them that the first ever F1 championship winner was Giuseppe Farina, who won when he was 44. Fangio won his first one at 40 and the other four at 43, 44, 45 and 46. Ascari was the youngest driver to get on the podium at 31, and the youngest championship winner at 34. The first under 30 drivers champion was Hawthorn at 29 in 1958. Age literally doesn't matter all that much if you are a great driver, I'd take a grid full of Alonsos over a grid full of Sargeant every day of the week.

[@devanshbharti2437]

Performance should be the only thing to judge a driver's place on the grid and if an older driving is still competing with the young guys then his age shouldn't be a reason to question his place in the grid

[@voldanmalak]

Hear me out, 2 more teams, 20 race calendar with 10 sprint features where F2 hopefuls and reserve drivers do the sprint qualifying and sprint race. That way both the sprint and the main race are worth watching. Up the spending cap to accommodate crashes. That way more juniors get time to show their skills and there’s a better mill rate overall so we don’t keep ending up with past-their-prime drivers holding F1 seats.

[@JonathArn1655]

Dont care about the age, just be fast.

[@wiisportswithtea.3736]

The solution is to let Andretti race, more seats, less problems

[@e.cabrera1861]

Alonso is the most talented F1 driver. He has competed outside of F1 and has succeeded. Yes Lewis, Schumacher, and even Max are arguable the best, BUT their whole career has been only in F1, whereas Alonso has won championships not only in but outside of F1

[@Dyna1One]

Yeah like other people said, if you're performing like the top 20 drivers in the world, that age shouldn't matter. Alonso is driving better than most of the grid so why the hate on him? I definitely understand giving a better chance to the younger drivers, maybe idk get rid of the paid drivers and getting the pack closer together in terms of machinery to make it more focused on individual talent? That way you can definitely tell the bottom 5 drivers should be worried about their seats. While those who are performing well in spec series (f2 etc.) should deserve a seat.

[@carolinebrayner]

What’s preventing younger drivers from reaching F1 isn’t the old drivers, it’s the FIA regulations. With the testing regulations and budget cap, the teams can’t afford to risk on younger drivers. They don’t get to prepare in the car, só when they do get in, they are really prone to accidents, what happened to haas is the example of it. But yeah, mostly mediocre drivers are holding up seats, zhou, sargeant and kmag shouldn’t have a seat this year

[@henryhurt1573]

The problem is, it’s not like football when u can slowly bed in one player in 10 other players. To put so much pressure it’s such a risk to bring in rookies

[@AuzzieDonkey]

Nah we just need more teams, or to build up a secondary championship to where they're almost seen as onpar but just need that promotion to the big stages.

[@psdani9xo]

Some people measure the quality of a driver with the calendar, not with a clock

[@leonsshare]

Just for stat perspective, De Vries, Lawson and Bearman have all been last minute super subs who all still have more career F1 points than Sargent, yet none have a current drive.

[@teolaurent3432]

The teams "choose" which drivers they take onboard. If a team wants to have someone like Alonso, Hamilton or Hulkenberg it’s because they think they are the best fit for them. These drivers aren’t blocking younger drivers. They were better fitted for a job in the eyes of their employers and therefore got the job

[@taleon2001]

logan, and stroll need to make room for not young and new drivers, but for MORE EXPERIENCED DRIVERS, tbh one of f1’s biggest problems is having way too many young drivers and never having the most experienced and most experts all in one grid, it’s mainly just rich and kind fast kids taking up almost half the grid

[@Amemji]

There's a saying in football "if your good enough your old enough" same applies here. Both Alonso and Hamilton have proved that so they shouldn't be shoved out jus because there above the age of 35 they've proved themselves. On the other hand my first thought when I saw the title was Strol he hasn't really proved anything.