Alonso set to clinch historic F1 record in Azerbaijan

Fernando Alonso is set to break a long-standing historic F1 record at next weekend's Azerbaijan Grand Prix, one that is still owned to this day by Michael Schumacher.

In Baku, Alonso will take part in his 342nd Grand Prix, which will put the Alpine driver just eight races short of Kimi Raikkonen's record of 350 starts in F1, a milestone that should be surpassed by the Asturian by the end of this season.

But the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will also mark 21 years, three months and eight days since Alonso’s F1 debut, an event that took place at the Australian Grand Prix in 2021.

• Alonso: 'Bones, ligaments, tendons, everything is a mess'

That unsurpassed longevity will outrun the current record held by Schumacher at 21 years and three months.

The F1 legend and seven-time world champion kicked off his career in Belgium in 1991 and closed the curtain on his life and times in F1 in Brazil in 2012.

Schumacher, racing for Ferrari at the time, initially left the grid at the end of the 2006 season after finishing runner-up to Alonso in the drivers' championship.

But in 2010, the German answered Mercedes' call and came out of retirement to resume his career which lasted another three seasons, taking his tally of Grand Prix starts up to 307.

Alonso also took a break from F1, leaving McLaren at the end of 2018 and returning to the fray with Alpine in 2021.

Alonso's last win in F1 dates back to the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix while his last podium was in Qatar last year with Alpine.

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