Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are the two oldest drivers on the Formula 1 grid. They rank first and second respectively on the list of all-time race starts.

Both drivers are clearly approaching the end of their careers. Alonso could retire next year – he recently revealed that he’ll be more inclined to walk away if he can go out on a high with Aston Martin.

Hamilton’s plans are less certain. The guaranteed period of his Ferrari contract ends in 2026, and it’s difficult to imagine the relationship continuing if the second season repeats the first.

RANKDRIVERSTARTS1Fernando Alonso4182Lewis Hamilton3733Kimi Raikkonen3494Rubens Barrichello3235Michael Schumacher307The F1 drivers with the most race starts

It’s believed that Hamilton can activate an option for 2027, but that will only appeal if Ferrari are contenders under the new regulations. A move elsewhere is theoretically possible, though it’s unclear if one of the most desirable seats would still be available.

F1 fans will ‘focus on the newer generation’ when Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton retire

In an interview with ESPN, Alonso was asked what his legacy will be when he retires. He’s won two world championships, but the last of those was nearly 20 years ago.

Alonso had his heart broken twice at Ferrari, missing out to Sebastian Vettel at the 2010 and 2012 title-deciders. He gambled on McLaren’s disastrous reunion with Honda and retired in 2018.

Vettel knew Alonso would come back, and he did so in 2021 with Alpine. While he’s scored a handful of podiums during his third stint in the sport, he hasn’t added to his win tally.

Alonso hopes to be remembered as an ‘all-round driver’ who could extract the ‘maximum’ from any car, in any category (he won the Le Mans 24 Hours in 2018 and 2019, and has also raced in the Indy500), but says both he and Hamilton, the most successful driver of his generation, will be ‘forgotten’ when the ‘newer generation’ takes over.

“I think people in the paddock will probably remember that I was an all-round driver,” he said. “I was able to drive different cars with different competitiveness, always at the maximum.

“In different categories as well, different series in motorsport and try to be competitive in all of them. So that’s probably enough for me and this is a very good compliment already.

“But for the outside world, I think I will be forgotten very fast. Like everyone else. There is no one in the paddock, even Lewis with seven championships… after four or five years that he’s off the radar, people will just focus on the newer generation. It happens always.”

Why Toto Wolff thinks nobody will remember Lewis Hamilton’s Ferrari stint

Ralf Schumacher says Hamilton and Ferrari will need to go their ‘separate ways’ if they lose trust in one another. The Azerbaijan weekend was another test of their relationship.

Fred Vasseur disagreed with Hamilton after qualifying, when the British driver blamed poor execution for a Q2 exit. He also apologised to the team and to Charles Leclerc after slowing down too late to let the Monegasque through at the end of the race.

But even if the move doesn’t work out, Toto Wolff says ‘nobody’ will remember Hamilton racing for Ferrari. He’s confident it wouldn’t affect his former driver’s legacy.

Hamilton doubts he’ll attend F1 races when he retires, which may mean that Alonso’s prediction comes true despite his historic achievements in the sport.