Fernando Alonso’s extended contract with Aston Martin will keep him in Formula 1 past his 45th birthday, and there’s no sign of him being any less fierce, wily and competitive than he was when he entered the championship at the age of 19 in 2001 with Minardi.

In IndyCar, there’s a legend currently aged 43, a year older than Alonso, who also made his top-level in 2001 and who equally continues to defy Father Time. In his case, he’s actually won four of the last six races in the series.

He is, of course, Scott Dixon.

If you're an IndyCar diehard, you don't need an Alonso comparison to quantify the genius of what Dixon's achieving in his 40s. But in an era when F1's profile advantage over the rest of motorsport is bigger than it's ever been, and when Alonso is lauded so frequently for the incredible standard at which he's still performing so deep into his career, it's worth reminding the wider motorsport world that Alonso's not the only person doing what he's doing. And his IndyCar equivalent has managed to keep himself in a championship-winning team too.

While Alonso has competed for many teams and sometimes been accused of creating friction in them, you’d struggle to find a person in the world with a bad thing to say about Dixon, who has raced for the same Chip Ganassi Racing team since 2002.

In that time he’s moved to within 10 race wins of the all-time IndyCar marker set by AJ Foyt, won six championships, and generally established himself as one of the hardest people to beat in any given IndyCar season.