"Cook that old Spaniard": Fans react to Ferrari boss joking about Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso's age

F1 fans have reacted to Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur pointing out that age won't be a factor for Lewis Hamilton when he joins them next season as he was still younger than Fernando Alonso.

The seven-time world champion shocked the motorsport world by announcing that he would leave the Mercedes F1 team for Ferrari from 2025 onwards. The Brit signed a multi-year deal with the Prancing Horse to join Charles Leclerc on the team.

Speaking to Sky Sports, Ferrari team boss Frederic Vasseur opened up about his relationship with the 39-year-old and pointed out that they were working hard to achieve success. He said:

"You know that we have a long relationship. Probably that is the right choice for him in the future. We are offering to develop the team to put everything together to be successful in the future. We know that it's a long way, but we are going in this direction."

When asked about Vasseur having any concerns about Lewis Hamilton racing with them in his latter years, the Frenchman joked:

"I think he is much younger than Alonso!"

F1 fans took to social media to react to Vasseur's comments on X, with one fan claiming that the Frenchman 'cooked' the 42-year-old Alonso with his jibe, saying:

"Cook that old Spaniard."

Here are some more reactions:

Some fans pointed out that the Ferrari team boss was defending Hamilton already:

Lewis Hamilton chimes in on his relationship with Frederic Vasseur

Lewis Hamilton has stated that he shares a 'great' relationship with the Ferrari team boss and spoke about their previous experiences in the junior categories.

Speaking with Motorsport.com, the Brit said:

“I've got a great relationship with Fred. Obviously I raced with him in F2 and we had amazing success in F3, and also in GP2. That's really where the foundation of our relationship started. We always remained in touch. I thought that he was going to be an amazing team manager at some stage and progress to F1, but at the time, he wasn't interested in that.

"It was really cool to see him step into the Alfa team. Then when he got the job at Ferrari, I was just so happy for him. I think just the stars aligned, I think it really wouldn't have happened without him. So I'm really grateful and really excited about the work that he's doing there.”

It would be interesting to see if Lewis Hamilton-Frederic Vasseur's collaboration could take Ferrari back to its glory years.