Oldie boom in Formula 1? What former champion Fernando Alonso thinks about the fact that the advantage of routine and experience is extremely exploited in the new F1 movie
The Hollywood blockbuster “F1” continues to attract large audiences to cinemas, including, naturally, many viewers who are not particularly interested in the sport. For many of these newcomers, however, as has been the case in recent years with the boom surrounding the Netflix documentary “Drive to Survive,” a somewhat distorted picture of what happens and how things work in real Formula 1 could emerge.
This is because the lead actor, Brad Pitt, now 61 years old, plays a racing veteran who returns to Formula 1 after a long break – and does so successfully. Many fans criticized this unrealistic plot line.
Although a little old-timer fairy tale did come true in real life recently at Silverstone, with Nico Hülkenberg securing his first F1 podium at the age of 37, a journalist at Spa wanted to know whether this might give the new generation of viewers the wrong impression. Or whether, given the experience required, this was actually a good time for veterans of the sport?
Alonso: “I ate something special in the winter.”
A question tailor-made for veteran Fernando Alonso, who at 44 is the oldest driver on the grid: “To be honest, I don’t think Nico or either of us are too concerned about what the next generation of fans thinks. We’re just trying to win races, work as well as possible with our team and deliver performance,“ said Alonso, referring to the expectations of the public.
”The fans and the viewers in front of the TV don’t see the whole picture – they can’t see the full difference between the cars or what’s happening in the background,” believes the Spaniard.
“If Nico and I have a car capable of winning next year, win eight races in a row and fight for the championship, then maybe people will think we ate something special over the winter or did a new training program – or suddenly learned to drive better. But that’s not the reality,” says Alonso.
“We train every day, eat every day, travel every day, go into the simulator every day. We work every day to improve with our team,” says the Aston Martin driver: “When we achieve success, we naturally want to share it with fans around the world – but they are not our priority,” he clarifies.
Alonso emphasizes: “I don’t mean to sound rude – we love our fans – but we don’t drive with the thought of whether they recognize how good or bad we are. For us, it’s more about the technical side of the sport and the feedback from the team.” And not so much about what the new generation of Formula 1 fans thinks of the latest media adaptations of the racing series…
