A method for evaluating the aging level of a component includes measuring values of the elapsed time in operation of the component (t.sub.m,i), at least one entity (I.sub.m,i) indicative of the aging of the component, and the temperature (T.sub.m,i) of the component, and processing the values measured as a function of a reference temperature (T.sub.ref) to produce corresponding normalized reference values (t.sub.ref,i; I.sub.m,i) representative of virtual operation of the component at said reference temperature (T.sub.ref). An updated prediction model for the at least one entity over time is generated from the reference values (t.sub.ref,i; I.sub.m,i). A predicted value (I.sub.fit) for the at least one entity at a given time obtained by means of the prediction model is compared with an aging threshold. An aging warning signal is generated if the comparison indicates deviation of the predicted value (I.sub.fit) beyond an acceptable range.