How F1's 100th anniversary time-capsule celebration is going to work

Formula 1, by its very nature, is all about considering the future. Faster cars, better drivers, making more money.

And in the year where the world championship is celebrating its 75th anniversary, Formula One Management bosses already have a shrewd eye on what will be its biggest commemoration yet: 100 years of F1 in 2050.

They’re not alone. Motorsport.com’s sister publication, Autosport magazine, already assessed a McLaren concept for 2050 F1 cars back in 2019 – when it was suggested these could perhaps reach 300mph, have ‘self-healing’ tyres and feature an AI co-driver.

But, while we can’t know if any of those Tomorrow’s World-style ideas will indeed come to pass, we do know about one tiny slice of how F1 100 is going to be celebrated.

The main source is Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso, who revealed he was the only contemporary F1 driver invited to a special ‘legends dinner’ soiree in London ahead of the F1 75 Live launch event at the O2 arena last month.

“I think Lewis and Max were busy last night,” Alonso quipped about his rivals Hamilton and Verstappen, of Ferrari and Red Bull.

“It was good,” Alonso added about the event. “I had the opportunity to see a lot of familiar faces.

“It was good to see Giancarlo Minardi – my first boss – there. Bernie [Ecclestone]. Luca di Montezemolo, with [whom] obviously I have a good friendship. Legend Mario Andretti was there, who I admired so much. It was good.

Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin Racing

Photo by: Getty Images

“And Formula 1, especially with the 75th anniversary, they tried to do some action and some cool stuff. Maybe some gossip, and one thing that we did there was that we wrote on a paper, all of us, a phrase or whatever you wanted to put.

“And they closed a box and it will be opened in 25 years and the 100th anniversary of Formula 1. It will be nice for the next generation.”

After Alonso, 43 and set to start his 22nd F1 racing season at next weekend’s Australian GP, joked “I may still be at the table!” as a contemporary member of the 2050 F1 driving pack, he mischievously declined to reveal what he had written.

“To open that box and see what is written there [will be good],” he said.

“I cannot say [what I wrote]. But let’s imagine 25 years ago, the generation of champions back then [in 2000], if they wrote something, it would be nice to read it now.

“I think it was a good idea.”

Motorsport.com understands that all attendees at the F1 legends dinner were asked to specifically write a note about what they think of the championship or their memories of competing in it or watching it.

Their papers were then collated and placed in individual tube capsules that will be sealed within a larger container to be opened at a special celebratory event in 2050 in true ‘Time Capsule’ style.

Sources suggest the office of F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali is behind this particular commemoration of F1 history.

When the notes from F1 75 are revealed, it is expected that they will be shown publicly and any predictions or comments assessed against subsequent developments in F1.