Veteran strength: Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg outclass the young guns. Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg defy age and car limitations by outperforming younger drivers.

Today we want to talk about two drivers who, due to the underwhelming performance of the cars they’re driving, often find themselves far from the spotlight. However, it’s undeniable that even though they are often labeled as ‘old’—Alonso will turn 44 in July, and Hulkenberg will turn 38 in August—they still manage to beat the young drivers of modern Formula 1. Truly teaching them a lesson.

Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg, drivers who deserve nothing but admiration
Fernando has, for several Grands Prix now, seemed to have regained the consistency that has always defined him. If he didn’t show it earlier, it was because of some misfortunes in the first part of the season. In the last race in Spain, he returned to the points—the first of the season. Important points that gave him a boost, and together with those collected in Canada, now allow him to be on the verge of overtaking Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda, who has been stuck on ten points for three weekends. Alonso was the only one—aside from the top team drivers—who believed in the two-stop strategy in Canada. Sticking to his approach, he managed to bag a strong haul of points, securing the first useful position behind the Ferraris.

Hulkenberg, meanwhile, is surprising with the pace he’s found at the wheel of the Sauber C45. A car that no one would have bet on at the beginning of the year (a team that had only scored 4 points in all of 2024). Nico is having a solid and convincing season. He immediately broke into the Top 10 in the first race and hasn’t given up since, even during tough weekends. He kept pushing and now seems to be reaping the rewards of all his hard work. With 6 points in Australia, 10 in Spain, and 4 in Canada, the German is up to 20 points and sits in 11th place, just behind Ocon and Hadjar—who drive a Haas and a Racing Bulls respectively, both of which have often seemed much faster than the Sauber.

In Canada, we saw a truly convincing demonstration of the value of Fernando Alonso and Nico Hulkenberg. Drivers who, behind the wheel of cars that in the hands of others might have just scraped the edge of the top 10, outshone everyone, teaching the new generation a lesson. It’s good for the sport to have athletes of this calibre in it. They are people who deserve to be looked at with admiration, without simply thinking they are taking up seats that could otherwise go to younger drivers.