Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton are contrasting characters — but neither will fade quietly

New York Times

a day ago

Welsh poet Dylan Thomas famously wrote, 'Do not go gentle into that good night, / Old age should burn and rave at close of day; / Rage, rage against the dying of the light.'
Fernando Alonso, now 44, is always worth listening to — every bombastic declaration, every pointed comment. The man who used a ripe peach to undermine cleanliness-obsessed Ron Dennis says nothing carelessly.
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Even long past his career peak and days of clashing with a fastidious former McLaren boss, Alonso is still using every moment in the spotlight to grab any edge he can. It's a unique brand of raging within the inevitable.
Now, a mere mortal like myself evoking one of the great poets when discussing a sports star's twilight years might seem patronizing. After all, sporting triumphs are metaphors for life's struggles. But try telling that to a man who skipped FP1 and needed extra cockpit padding just to make it through his 418th Formula One weekend. Everything Alonso has shown in 25 years at this level tells me he won't slink off the stage quietly. He'll take the hyperbolic approach to the very end and sing the sun absolutely in flight. So, if you'll allow it, I'll do the same.
Alonso's excellent Hungarian Grand Prix weekend came a week on from Aston Martin's drubbing in Belgium. In Budapest, he and teammate Lance Stroll were unlikely qualifying stars. They then converted their high grid spots into solid points. The winner in Hungary, Lando Norris, followed the same one-stop strategy Alonso and Aston Martin targeted to pull off their best result of 2025 so far: A fifth-place finish.
Aston was better because Hungary was the first visit to a maximum downforce track since Monaco. There, Alonso had been on for sixth but for his engine faltering. Low-speed tracks mean teams don't have to set up their cars to find an aerodynamic compromise (especially around rear wing sizes) for best performance on long straights or in fast corners.
Spa demands exactly the kind of aerodynamic compromise Hungary didn't, making it a tougher test for cars like Aston Martin's that prefer maximum downforce conditions. As far back as the 2023 season, the car hasn't been the best in straight-line performance and Alonso has wanted improvements in this regard ever since. But even with this issue negated at the technical Hungaroring, the result — fifth and seventh — was still something of a surprise for Aston.
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Alonso said afterwards that he and the team 'don't know why' they were so good in Hungary, but praised the new front wing the team fully unleashed, as well as other recent updates working exactly as the factory had hoped.
The turnaround leaves Alonso heading into the summer break buoyed after leaving Belgium fearing a difficult season run-in. The max downforce packages returning immediately at Zandvoort on the break's far side undoubtedly adds another boost.
'Big change in one week,' he said when The Athletic's Luke Smith asked if he now had hope heading into the season's remaining races. 'I will not lie, I was worried for the second part of the year.
'Everyone in the team was a little bit down in terms of motivation. These seven days, I think it changed 180-degrees. We are now looking forward to the 10 remaining races.'
Other things had Alonso gushing. Max Verstappen had been his biggest threat going into Sunday's race — the Red Bull starting only eighth to Alonso's fifth. But Alonso's careful tire management and impressive pace meant Red Bull's undercut attempt to jump Verstappen past both him and Bortoleto, who started seventh, backfired. Verstappen was mired in traffic and ended up behind Stroll and Liam Lawson, too.
Alonso relishes the challenge of racing the world's best drivers. The fifth-place finish will have been all the more satisfying given Verstappen was ninth. Enjoying a perfect 14-0 qualifying record in the intra-Aston battle and basking in the average pure pace gap of 0.336s on Stroll will have Alonso purring. It's the little things in frail deeds, to return again to Dylan Thomas.
Alonso's Hungary weekend and media appearances contrasted sharply with the sport's other veteran champion, Lewis Hamilton.
Hamilton was downbeat to the point of despondency in Budapest. He called himself 'useless' after qualifying. When he finished the grand prix in the same place he qualified (12th), he alluded to 'a lot going on in the background that is not … great.' The latter comment was reminiscent of his often gloomy attitude with the media during his final, listless season at Mercedes in 2024. But the tone is strikingly honest.
One style of public self-reflection isn't necessarily better than another. When asked about his former driver's comments, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff reminded reporters how this has long been Hamilton's way. 'That is Lewis wearing his heart on his sleeve,' he told reporters.
Such strong, public self-criticism has come from other drivers (Charles Leclerc and Norris probably the best examples of late). And being open in a world where smoke and mirrors are preached ad infinitum is to be welcomed. Hamilton's words are really only being scrutinized so much because they came from F1's greatest ever driver — statistically and culturally.
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Yet, the forces driving that candor — and how Alonso and Hamilton respond — differ markedly, reflecting the contrasting demeanors of these two long-time rivals.
Alonso taking on Stroll each week is very much not Hamilton racing a rapid Leclerc. And Alonso has desperately chased that elusive third F1 world title for nearly 20 years. It's his default, at this point, to push on, to blaze forward through difficult years behind the wheel. The last time the Spaniard came close to winning a title was in 2007, when he lost by one point.
Hamilton, only five years removed from his latest championship glory, is still adjusting to title-less days. It's only been four years since the record eighth title slipped through his fingers.
Alonso kept his desire burning by winning in other championships, like the World Endurance Championship and the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and may return to those categories once he's finally done in F1.
Hamilton? You sense not. Only the highest of motorsport peaks will do. The toll of toiling to get back to something as impressive as Brazil 2021, one of Hamilton's greatest performances, cannot be underestimated. There, Hamilton went from last to first against Verstappen's fiercest defense (and much paddock politicking) to keep his most recent title challenge alive. Losing so infamously three rounds later in Abu Dhabi no doubt still stings.
In the print media pen after the Hungarian GP, Hamilton said he was 'looking forward to coming back' after the summer break, but cryptically added, 'Hopefully I'll be back, yeah.'
That, of course, has sparked wild speculation that Hamilton somehow might not see out the current season with Ferrari. But it's worth remembering his own raging words before the Spa weekend, where he vowed, 'I refuse' to be another failed champion at Ferrari — directly referencing Alonso's own unsuccessful stint with Scuderia from 2010 to 2014, as well as that of Hamilton's friend, Sebastian Vettel.
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Both of these veteran racers are waiting on 2026 for one more shot — probably one last shot — with the coming major changes in car design rules.
Hamilton clearly hasn't ever jelled with these ground-effect cars. They sap confidence under braking and all through his title years that was his main driving strength. It is surprising, however, that he hasn't adapted better. Alonso is the master adapter — he once changed his whole driving style in one off-season pre-2007 when going from Michelin tires to Bridgestones.
That was the year this pair were McLaren teammates. Their careers intertwined and forever altered. What comes next should be savored and the memories preserved.
(Top photo of Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso:,)