What Formula 1 was struggling to generate real interest around its younger drivers was something that could already be intuited, but now it has become very clear. A Google study has laid the cards on the table: Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso remain the two most searched-for drivers on the internet.
Google has compiled a ranking of the 22 drivers on the grid in order of the attention they generate in search engines. Among the top ten there are five drivers over 30, two of them over 40. However, there is only one under 25. And no, it’s not Kimi Antonelli, who is among the trailing as he fights for the title.
Franco Colapinto is the only young driver among the ten most searched in Formula 1
Between 2024 and 2026, Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso were the two most searched Formula 1 drivers on Google. A fact that many will find logical, but it highlights a serious problem facing Formula 1: the generational handover shines by its absence, at least when it comes to audience engagement.
Hamilton just turned 41, while Alonso will blow out 45 candles this summer. Both are ending contracts with their teams this season, and could opt for retirement. It would be natural, but what’s not normal is that they continue to be the media darlings on which Formula 1 feeds, at least according to Google.
This report reveals that five of the ten most searched Formula 1 drivers on Google are over 30 years old. Besides Hamilton and Alonso, the Mexican Sergio Pérez appears in fifth position, Carlos Sainz sits sixth and even Valtteri Bottas sneaks into eighth, ahead of the current world leader, George Russell.
On the other hand, the total lack of interest in the younger drivers is alarming. Kimi Antonelli, at 19, who is contending for the title, sits seventeenth. Oscar Piastri, 24 and one of last year’s big title contenders, is eleventh. The only driver under 25 in the top ten is Franco Colapinto, tenth, and thanks to the Argentinian rally behind him.
Despite his four consecutive world titles, Max Verstappen is only third, not yet surpassing Hamilton and Alonso, and very close to Charles Leclerc, who is fourth. The reigning champion, Lando Norris, is only seventh, and the current world leader, Russell, is ninth. A situation that only begs one question:
What will happen to interest in Formula 1 if Alonso and Hamilton, and perhaps Verstappen, retire this year?
Images | Ferrari, Aston Martin
