Formula 1 has completed 12 rounds of the championship and visits Budapest for the last race before the summer break. This is the prime time for contract negotiations and a stir-up in the driver’s market. The Alpine recruit, Fernando Alonso, is in his final year of the contract and has reportedly started negotiations for continuing in F1.

The Spaniard debuted in 2001 at the Australian GP and is presently the most experienced driver on the F1 grid. He joined the French constructor in 2020 to replace the outgoing Daniel Ricciardo. The two parties agreed to serve on a basis of 1-year contracts to achieve glory together.

In 2018, Alonso took a hiatus from the premier racing league to join Le Mans, which he won that year and the following year. This increased his value even more in the driver’s market and gave him an advantage in negotiations. F1 journalist, Joe Saward, shared a peek into the contract talks of the Spaniard.

He said, “Money is important at Alpine and thus negotiating a new deal with Fernando Alonso has been quite complex as the Spaniard has ideas of his own worth which are, how shall we say, impressive. However the threat of the team signing up a talented youngster called Oscar Piastri was obviously helpful in the negotiations.”

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“Anyway, the word is that Fernando now has a new two year deal (perhaps one plus one) and this will be announced after August 1 when an option date will pass. This, of course, means that the team will have to release Oscar Piastri unless it can convince him to join Williams for a year or two.”

Alpine reserve driver, Oscar Piastri, suffers a direct consequence of Alonso’s contract extension. The promising young Aussie, who is the former F2 champion and in search of a seat in F1, would have to search for a new home to give him better career opportunities if the French racing stable extends their relations with the Catalan.

Fernando Alonso turns 41 on the eve of the Hungarian GP

The Alpine ace is currently 40 years old and the oldest driver on the 2022 grid. Nevertheless, time and time again, he has delivered exceptional performances and shown his pace in the modern F1 cars.

At the French GP, the double world champion broke Kimi Raikkonen‘s mark of 18,621 to set the new all-time record for most laps completed in F1.

On Friday, the day of the two practice sessions in Budapest, he celebrates his 41st birthday. With age comes wisdom, and in an interview with The Race, he talked about his age being the highlight of the race weekend.

He said, “Now that I will be 41 in Hungary, it [his age] will be the topic in Hungary! I don’t feel different in Hungary than what I felt last year at 39. But I’m aware of that. And let’s say that there is a new generation of fans as well now that were not there in 2006, when I won the championship, or they were not in 2012, when I was in Ferrari fighting for the championship.”

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“Now there are 50% new viewers, and they never saw Alonso fighting for podiums and wins. So now you come back, and it’s not like ‘who is this guy?’, but you know, ‘what’s he adding to the sport?’. Weekends like Canada or the second part of last year, I think they can feel that I can still add something to the sport.”

How long do you think the birthday boy will continue to race in Formula 1? Let us know.