17/08/2025 13:50
Fernando Alonso says he does not "care too much" about what some F1
fans think, after the release of the Brad Pitt F1 film. Alonso is
the oldest driver on the grid, having recently celebrated his 44th
birthday, becoming the first driver since Graham Hill in 1975 to
race beyond this milestone. He is also the most experienced driver
in F1 history with 415 starts, but has not won a grand prix since
the 2013 Spanish GP, nor the title since 2006, thus meaning newer
fans have not seen the Spanish racer celebrate a grand prix win or
title. In the recent British GP, Nico Hulkenberg, now a veteran of
241 starts, bagged his first podium finish after 239 attempts, with
this coinciding with the release of the F1 film, starring Brad
Pitt. Pitt's character Sonny Hayes is a veteran driver who
ultimately returns to F1 and claims a first grand prix win. The
film has broken box office records since its release, and is the
highest-grossing film of Pitt's career, but Alonso has rubbished
the suggestion that, because older drivers won a fictional race, it
means newer fans are more open to real-life older drivers enjoying
success. "I don't think Nico or I care too much about what the
next-generation fans think," Alonso told media, including
RacingNews365. "We only try to win races, try to work with our team
the best we can, and deliver the performance. The fans and the
people outside watching TV, don't have the full picture of what is
going on and the difference in performance between the cars. "So,
if next year Nico and I have a winning car and we win eight
consecutive races and fight for the championship, then they will
think that we ate something different in winter or had a different
training programme and we learned how to drive in the winter.
"This is not really the reality. We train every day, eat every day,
travel every day, go to the simulator every day. We try to be
better and better every day with our teams. "When we achieve the
result, we just try to share it with them and our fans around the
world — but they are not our priority. "It cannot sound rude to
anyone — we love the fans — but we don't think about of if they
realise how good or bad we drive, that is more for the team." As
for Hulkenberg, he felt there was "no correlation" between film and
"between experienced drivers and recent results, it is just
circumstantial."
