Fernando Alonso believes character ‘lost’ in new generation F1 driver observation

In a career that spans more than two decades, Fernando Alonso says yesteryear’s F1 drivers were “tough competitors” while today’s generation have “lost a little bit” of character.

Competing in Formula 1 for the first time back in 2001, he was up against the likes of World Champions Michael Schumacher, Mika Hakkinen and Jacques Villeneuve.

Fernando Alonso: Maybe they lost a little bit their own character

Today the 42-year-old is not only the last of that generation, but he’s competing against a driver who was born a month after he made his debut with Minardi in Oscar Piastri.

Next year he can add Oliver Bearman to that list, in fact, the 2025 Haas Formula 1 driver was only four months old when Alonso won his first F1 World title in 2005.

It is, Alonso feels, a very different generation from the one he started out racing against. Not so much in terms of talent, but rather the people they are when the helmets come off.

“Definitely, there are some differences. I think the older generation were a bit more genuine,” he told the Financial Times . “Different in character, in the way they approached racing and life. They were very tough competitors.

“Now, I would say that they are very talented – maybe more than before because of all the preparation, the academies, the simulator work, the technology, and data they have available to improve and learn quickly. They arrive in F1 more prepared.

“But off track or with the helmet off, maybe they are a bit the same and more shy in the way they approach things. They have people who talk for them, for management, for media, for fitness.

“They’re well prepared, but maybe they lost a little bit their own character.”

It could, however, be argued that even before Alonso lined up on the grid for the first time the drivers before him were different to his generation with the James Hunts and the Niki Laudas.

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Although Alonso is 42 years old, this year the double World Champion signed a new extension with Aston Martin, one that could keep him racing for another two seasons.

He reckons today he is still the same “strong competitor” he was back then.

Reminded by James Allen about the time when he was 22 and told the journalists he wants “every other driver to look at me and say he’s the best”, Alonso laughed and said: “Yeah, that probably was me back then – and I still feel the same way.

“Now, I hope when you meet a driver, they have that respect, knowing that you were a strong competitor and someone that is not giving up.

“I think, 20 years later, some of those goals were achieved with the championships. I can still achieve good things when I have the right equipment. Even when the car is not 100 per cent, they still need to keep an eye on me. I will always be a fighter. I didn’t change my approach.”

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