In the traditional end-of-year Secret Santa video shared by the Formula 1 channel, the Sauber driver decided to gift the two-time world champion a walking stick — something the Spaniard took in good spirits.

The joke was, of course, a nod to Alonso’s age. Already the oldest driver ever to still be competing in Formula 1, the Spaniard will turn 44 in just a few months.

Even so, Alonso once again delivered the goods this season, comfortably outperforming his team-mate — especially in qualifying, where he completed a clean 24–0 sweep — and finishing the campaign well clear of him overall.

Throughout his extraordinarily long F1 career, Alonso has raced through multiple regulatory eras — and is now set to experience yet another, potentially the most significant of them all, with cars due to undergo sweeping changes both externally and under the skin next year.

The Spaniard is convinced that Aston Martin have a successful future ahead of them — with the only question being when that success will finally arrive.

Another gift that sparked plenty of laughter on social media was the painting of the Zandvoort overtake that Leclerc decided to give to the Mercedes driver — a knife-edge move around the outside that hadn’t gone down particularly well with the Briton at the time.

Russell said he was “lost for words” after unwrapping the present, not holding back from firing an ironic dig at the Monegasque, while also dragging Kimi Antonelli into the joke.