Alonso breaks F1 longevity record with 20 seasons now under his belt

During the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to start his 20th season in Formula 1. With Oscar Piastri on the grid, Alonso became the first driver to compete against a rival born after his Formula 1 debut. Piastri was born one month after Alonso’s debut at the 2001 Australian Grand Prix.

Alonso and Aston Martin impressed during the free practice sessions, as it is the first time since the Singapore Grand Prix in 2014 that Alonso was the fastest in two practice sessions during a race weekend. Alonso qualified in fifth place for the Bahrain Grand Prix 2023, marking his best qualifying result in Bahrain since he qualified third for the Bahrain Grand Prix in 2013.

During his debut with Aston Martin, Alonso finished in third place. He became only the fifth driver in Formula 1 history to achieve a podium finish with five different constructors. Only Stirling Moss and John Surtees have achieved podium finishes with more constructors than Alonso.

Finishing on the podium at the age of 41 years, 7 months, and 5 days, Alonso became the oldest driver to finish on a Formula 1 podium since Michael Schumacher at the 2012 European Grand Prix. Since 1960, only six drivers have stood on the podium at a more advanced age than Alonso at the 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix: Maurice Trintignant, John Love, Jack Brabham, Mario Andretti, Jacques Laffite, and Michael Schumacher.

Third driver to have stood on the Formula 1 podium the most

Fernando Alonso qualified in third place and moved up to second on the grid thanks to Charles Leclerc’s penalty. The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2023 marks the 39th front row start for his car and his first since the Canadian Grand Prix 2022. It was also the first front row start for an Aston Martin driver since Roy Salvadori at the British Grand Prix 1959, which took place at the Aintree circuit.

Despite a absurd situation after the race where he was stripped of his podium and then reinstated, Alonso has become the sixth driver to achieve 100 podium finishes in Formula 1. He is the first driver to accomplish this feat since Kimi Räikkönen in 2018.

Alonso’s podium saw him join Kimi Räikkönen and Michael Schumacher as the third driver to score points for over 20 years in Formula 1. His first points came 20 years and 10 days ago, during the Australian Grand Prix in 2003.

The greatest number of starts in F1

It was during this weekend that he became the driver with the most starts at the Australian Grand Prix. On Sunday, Alonso recorded Aston Martin’s first podium at the Australian Grand Prix since Heinz Harald-Frentzen finished second for Jordan in 1999.

Third driver to enter Q3 the most

Sixth qualifier for the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso has become the third driver to record 200 appearances in Q3, after Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel.

Driver with the most laps completed in F1

During the Sao Paulo Grand Prix 2023, Fernando Alonso became the first driver to make 20 starts at Interlagos, surpassing Rubens Barrichello’s previous record of 19 starts on the track.

Alonso recorded his 106th podium, matching Alain Prost as the driver with the fourth highest number of podiums in Formula 1 history. This was Alonso’s first podium since he was the runner-up at the Dutch Grand Prix in 2023 and his first appearance on the Interlagos podium since 2013.

During the race, Alonso became the driver to have completed the most laps at Interlagos in a Grand Prix, equalled Michael Schumacher’s record for the highest number of points in Brazil, and became the first driver to finish 18 races at the Interlagos circuit.

First driver to finish 300 races in F1

With his ninth place finish at the 2023 Las Vegas Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso became the first driver in the history of the sport to complete 300 Formula 1 races.