Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have more than 750 Grand Prix starts between them in Formula 1.
Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut with Minardi in 2001 – before seven of next year’s grid were even born.
His long-term rival Lewis Hamilton will be 40 by the time the 2025 season begins, but that hasn’t put Ferrari off handing him a contract ahead of finally making his debut for the sport’s most iconic team.
The pair have nine world championships between them, 137 victories, 126 pole positions and more than 300 podium finishes.
Alonso and Hamilton didn’t see eye to eye at McLaren during their only campaign as teammates, but both of their talents have to be admired.
While Hamilton and Alonso will never be best friends, they’ll both be hoping to challenge for victories again sooner rather than later as they’ll know that they can’t go on forever.
Unfortunately for both drivers, challenging for championships hasn’t been on their agenda for the past few seasons, especially for Alonso who last finished in the top three of the Drivers’ Championship in 2013.
In an interview with Marca, their former rival Juan Pablo Montoya has been discussing the experienced pair.
Although he admires their tenacity to continue competing at the very highest level, he thinks Alonso has one key advantage over Hamilton.
Juan Pablo Montoya explains the ‘biggest difference’ between Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso
Montoya was asked how he feels about Hamilton and Alonso and the way they’re still racing every day and training hard and said: “Well, that’s good. And look, they are still just as fast.
“The biggest difference, between Lewis and Fernando, is that when Hamilton has the chance to win, he gets his claws out, as he always has, but the day he doesn’t, he has no desire.
“And you see that in Fernando when he smells a good result he pulls out his claws to the full, and when he’s like there like he doesn’t know, and the car is not going well, he does a good job, but it’s not the same.”
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Alonso has had a lot of practice having to compete for minor points throughout his career.
Aston Martin slowly sank further down the pecking order in 2024, meaning the Spaniard had to fight for every top-10 finish he achieved.
To put his achievement into perspective, his teammate Lance Stroll failed to score a point in any of his last 11 Grand Prix.
Lewis Hamilton may have his best chance to win eighth F1 championship with Ferrari in 2025
Although Mercedes were occasionally competitive in 2024, Hamilton seemed unable to extract the maximum out of his car across an entire race weekend.
The team were left confused by why the W15 was competitive during one practice session and well off the pace by the time it came to qualifying.
However, Ferrari seemed to have found a way to make their car much more predictable.
READ MORE: Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton’s life outside F1 from net worth to family
Charles Leclerc fans thought he was better than Lando Norris in 2024 after seeing how well he recovered towards the end of the season when Ferrari fixed the issues they introduced with an update at the Spanish Grand Prix.
If Montoya’s point is correct, Hamilton will reach another level next year if Ferrari hand him a car that he feels can win every race.
At the same time, the 39-year-old has proven time and again that he can compete even when he’s got a disadvantage, otherwise he wouldn’t be a seven-time world champion.
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