2025 Formula 1 Labour of Love Award: Fernando Alonso

And in 2025, there is only one driver on the grid who truly earns that label. Fernando Alonso. This is not about nostalgia or sympathy. We don't roll that was on this site. This is about deserving not to be forgotten.

It is not about legacy points, social media relevance, or paddock politics. This is about why a man who has already won everything that matters still turns up every weekend like it is his first season and not his last.

Destroying Lance Stroll is hardly a feather in his cap, considering Alonso's long list of beaten teammates. But the fact that at the age of 44, he not only beats his teammate but has outqualified a driver 17 years his junior for a full season, over 30 races in fact. Unheard of in Formula 1.

Here's why Editor Jad Mallak and Paul Velasco believe Alonso deserves to be honoured for the season past, his 22nd in the top flight,

Paul Velasco: "What keeps coming back, again and again, is one idea: he does not give up. He keeps going. He loves racing. Not tolerates it. Not endures it. Loves it. That matters.

"At Alonso’s age, after everything he has done in this sport, the easy option would be survival mode. Cruise. Collect the cheque. Let the car finish where it finishes. Especially in a team dynamic where his teammate exists because of his surname and not his lap time.

"Especially when the owner would probably be perfectly content with P12 and clean bodywork. But Alonso does not operate like that.

"He pushes. He digs. He drags the car into Q3 when it has no business being there. He extracts tenths that are not in the data. He races because racing is the point. Not the lifestyle. Not the image. Not the post career positioning. The racing itself.

"That is the hard graft. A labour of love does not mean it is romantic or easy. It means you do it because you can not do it. It means you are still hungry enough to enjoy the fight rather than resent it. Too many drivers reach a point where the sport starts to feel like work in the worst sense of the word. Alonso is the opposite.

"Alonso is still animated. Still angry. Still demanding. Still obsessed. And crucially, still willing to hurt for performance. Just one word: Passion.

"That is the answer. That is the difference. That is why Fernando Alonso is the labour of love driver of the 2025 Formula 1 season. Not because he has to be there. But because he wants to be there more than almost anyone else on that grid.

"And in a sport that increasingly feels engineered, processed, and overproduced, that kind of authenticity matters more than ever. Alonso provides the template of what racing drivers are about. For him, Formula 1 is more than a job or career; it is a pure labour of love for the man from Oviedo.

"In closing, the Adrian Newey - Fernando Alonso alliance has all the ingredients to rewrite history. With a winning car, will we see the Spaniard unlock GP wins that ended at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix and have parked at 23 victories ever since? Maybe even a third title?"

Jad Mallak: "Paul has basically said it all about Alonso. How he still has the energy to do 24 race weekends a season is beyond me, given his age and the time he has spent in Formula 1 with his reward being only two championships while he and many others, including me, believe he deserved more.

"And the fact that he is still doing that in an Aston Martin that is way off the pace at the moment just shows his commitment as he drags that green car around every weekend fighting for every position as if it were a podium or a win.

"Despite being the unfading F1 driver he is, time will eventually catch up with Alonso and I only hope that Adrian Newey delivers a decent car for the Spaniard before that happens.

"Like Paul said, I believe that Alonso, in a decent car, cab fight for wins and podiums. We saw back in 2023 when the Aston Martin was somehow competitive how he performed.

"Alonso has been able to remain relevant in today's F1 despite his age and it seems that he will be the same in the foreseeable future, that is unless he slows down after he has his baby, we do know his girlfriend is pregnant.

"Just kidding, I don't think he will, Max didn't, and in that regard, I think he and Alonso are similar."