Can a driver in their 40s win a Formula 1 world championship?
When Jack Brabham won the world championship in 1966 at the age of 40, there was nothing unusual about his seniority.
He was one of three drivers who had won the title aged 40 or over, along with Juan Manuel Fangio (five titles between 1951-57), and Giuseppe Farina - who triumphed in 1950, the year the Formula 1 championship was first held.
But Brabham’s win marked a watershed. In the 58 years since, no one as old has won the title. Lewis Hamilton in 2020 is the only driver aged 35 or over since Damon Hill, in 1996, to claim the crown. The general trend has the average age of drivers dropping from 40 in 1950 to 26 in 2016.
There are signs that F1 is again becoming an arena for the older driver. Fernando Alonso has signed a new contract with Aston Martin that means he will drive for the team until he is 45. When Hamilton joins Ferrari next year he will be 40, while the Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg, 36, believes it is realistic that he too could compete until that age. Quality of car permitting, could the next 40-plus world champion be just around the corner?
Pedro de la Rosa has seen Alonso from all angles: as a competitor for an opposing team, a colleague, a friend. One quality stands out: dedication. “Whatever he does, he always does it 100 per cent,” he says. “You have this feeling that when he looks at you, he is doing an x-ray - that he is analysing you in everything you say.
“It doesn't really matter if it’s Formula 1 or karting, he always spends time trying to be the best, very dedicated, intense. I have no doubt that is the key element [of his longevity].”
Alonso bucks the trend, but his talent and durability are inspiring others. De la Rosa raced until he was 41. The Spaniard stopped because he could not find another team, not because of a decline in performance.
“I look at Fernando and see trends I used to do; it’s nice to see a driver proving me right, in that age sometimes is only a number. Fernando is giving hope to many old drivers that still have it [talent] but are considered too old.”
What has changed? Dr Tommy Wood, performance expert for Hintsa, a company that worked with drivers such as Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, says: “There is less of a sudden advancement of science and more of taking scientific principles learnt in other sports. This includes specific training strategies, to ways hydration and temperature are managed, which can have an impact on performance.”
Wood agrees with De la Rosa that the commitment to training and recovery is crucial. Alonso explained that he did not sign a new contract until he survived the gruelling opening part of the season.
“Looking at this calendar, I was a bit afraid that this will be heavy on me,” Alonso said. “There are all the commitments with the photoshoots, media shoots and car launch. All these things are demanding in terms of energy, particularly in this part of my career. So, I said, ‘Let me go through that period of marketing and media, of travelling. If I’m not enjoying what I’m doing, it’s better to not keep racing. If I go through that period and all the rest is not heavy on me, I want to continue. Why not?” Remarkably, the two-times world champion is performing as well as ever in a car that is not competing for wins. He believed his sixth place in Japan two weeks ago was in the top five of his 385 career races, given the performance limitations of his car.
Alonso has worked with trainers Fabrizio Borra and Edo Bendinelli and has developed his English to become a more complete leader, praised by his team for his feedback.
“Sometimes it’s difficult to agree on something - you have to give him good reasons to prove him wrong,” De la Rosa explains. “But once he commits, he doesn’t argue that it was wrong [regardless]. You don’t need to tell him what he needs to eat. He knows exactly what his body is telling him because he's done it all his life.”
Age can often lead to a decline in physiological capability. De la Rosa remembers that recovering from injury was more difficult towards the latter end of his career, and his eyesight deteriorated after he turned 40.
“I asked Fernando, ‘How is your eyesight?’ Because for me that was the first indication I was ageing. On the last test, he said, ‘I can see over 100 per cent.’ He was laughing at me.”
Although scientific studies of real-world drivers, rather than racing drivers, have suggested that there is some decline in reaction times between the ages of 40 and 50, at least at first it may not be an insurmountable obstacle.
“Reaction time and processing speed are partly inherent. They have genetics or components that mean some people react faster than others,” Wood says. “Processing speed does tend to decrease with age but it also seems to be linked to physical fitness, nutrient status, sleep and stress.”
F1 becoming a safer sport has helped to elongate careers, as has the present era of cars. Although they are more challenging to drive from a mental standpoint because of the settings drivers have to change, they are less demanding physically.
“You will never be a top athlete at 42, 43 if you have not dedicated your life,” De la Rosa says.
“If you don't take care of your body, sleep eight hours, train every day, if you let go at one point because you don't have the passion anymore, you will never make it at 42 at this level. Impossible.”
The Times