Fernando Alonso

Birthdate: July 29th 1981   Country: Spain   Gender: M

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History: 1988 -  1990 Karting Infant Category. Asturias Champion (won all 8 races), winner Galicia's Championship, winner Asturias Championship. 1990 -  1991 Karting Cadet Category. Winner Asturias Championship, winner Vasc Championship, second Spanish Championship. 1993 -  1994 Karting Junior Category. Winner Spanish Championship. 1995 -  Winner Spanish Championship, third World Championship. 1996 -  Karting Junior Category. Winner World and Spanish Championship Winner Trofeo Estival (Italy) and Marlboro Masters. 1997 -  1998 Karting Inter-A Category. Winner Spanish and Italian Championship, second in European Championship (9 wins). 1999 -  Winner Euro-Open Movistar Nissan single-seater series (9 Pole positions, Six wins, 8 fastest laps). 2000 -  FIA International F3000 Championship (Team Astromega). Finished 6th Austria, 2nd Hungary 1st Belgium, ranked fourth in final championship standings Formula 3000 World Championship classification. Test driver for the Mindardi Team. 2001 -  Formula 1: driver European Minardi F1 2002 -  Test driver for Renault F1 2003 -  Formula 1: Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, 6th place, 55 points (1 win, 4 podium finishes, 2 pole positions, 1 fastest lap) 2004 -  Formula 1: Mild Seven Renault F1 Team, 4th place, 59 points (4 podium finishes, 1 pole position)

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Fernando Alonso looked like a champion the moment he stepped into a Formula 1 car. And in 2005, after just four attempts, he became the youngest ever.

Alonso's first ever Nissan Fortuna test came at Albacete. Incredibly, it was the first time he had ever driven a car with a clutch and a gearbox. The test only lasted 20 minutes - due to a scrape with a guardrail - but already he had equalled the lap record set by Marc Gene. Alonso was immediately signed up and won the title at the first time of asking, in 1999.

For 2000 Alonso joined Formula 3000, but he struggled instantly. This was not his fault, as the death of former driver Gonzo Rogriguez had left the team in a state of shock. From that point on Alonso was made to run with Rodriguez's set-up, which he wasn't suited to. Then a landmark moment came in France, where he and engineer Chris Murphy changed the set-up to suit his driving style. Podiums in France and Hungary were followed by victory in Spa. Later he tested a Minardi at Fiorano, and was signed up on a multi-year deal by Renault boss Flavio Briatore. The Italian soon off-loaded the Spaniard to Minardi for a year of racing experience.

His Formula 1 career began in 2001 when he was picked up by the Minardi team. No points, as expected, but he completely thrashed more experienced team-mate Tarso Marques.

Renault beckoned and he joined as test driver in 2002. Spending a year out allowed Alonso to learn from a top team with two top drivers, Jenson Button and Jarno Trulli. When Button left at the end of the year, Alonso was promoted into a race seat for 2003.

Alonso had a successful start to his Renault career. He took podiums, although didn't do himself any favours when he crashed during yellow flag conditions in Brazil, causing the race to be stopped. Then in Hungary it all came together and he took victory, lapping champion Michael Schumacher on the way.

2004 would prove to be more disappointing. For the first half of the season he was outraced by Jarno Trulli, who took more podiums than the Spaniard and even a victory at Monaco. However at the French Grand Prix Trulli fell out of favour with the team and wouldn't score any more points, and was replaced by 1997 champion Jacques Villeneuve for the final three races. Alonso beat Trulli in the championship, and outpaced the returning champion, but couldn't repeat his victory of 2003.

This would all change in 2005. Renault had the most reliable car and Alonso duly won in Malaysia and Bahrain. From then on McLaren had a faster car, but it was unreliable. Alonso benefitted from McLaren's misfortunes to win four more times, taking his victory total to six that year. By this time McLaren had got on top of their reliability issues but the championship seemed a foregone conclusion, with Alonso having more than thirty points in hand. Despite dropping points to the McLaren's of Kimi Raikkonen and Juan Pablo Montoya in the final few races, Alonso duley won the title in Brazil, making him the youngest Formula 1 world champion ever, at the age of 24. In the final race of 2005, Shanghai, Alonso won, beating the McLaren's on outright pace for the first time.

There was a shock to come at the end of the season however, when the Spaniard announced that he would be leaving Renault and joining arch-rivals Vodafone McLaren Mercedes for 2007. Renault's Formula 1 future had been in doubt, and the Spaniard was keen to make sure that he had a top seat should the French team pull out.

Many questioned the early announcement of Alonso's move, and believed it would effect the team's chances of retaining their titles. But in the early races he was unditured, and took victory in Bahrain, before coming second behind team-mate Giancarlo Fisichella in Malaysia. A week later in Melbourne he returned to the top step of the podium again.

Alonso went into the European season with even more points than 2005, but Imola wasn't to be his race. Ferrari and Michael Schumacher were back on form, and the German held off Alonso to win, mirroring the result of the previous season. Schumacher went on to take another victory at the Nurburgring. Alonso was second again.

Beliefs that Ferrari were back as the team to beat were quickly laid to rest in Spain. In front of his home crowd, Alonso was brilliant, and took a convincing win. He repeated his achievement in Monaco, his first win in the principality. Helped by a dubious decision from Schumacher, Alonso won from Raikkonen, and extended his points lead to Schumacher.

The Spaniard's consistent form continued through the middle of the season, however Alonso's title aspirations looked to be on the rails in Italy, where a grid penalty and then an engine failure saw Schumacher take a chunk out of Alonso's lead. Further mechanical issues in Hungary, aligned to the ever growing presence of Ferrari, meant that the title rivals fought on until Japan. However it was here at Suzuka where Alonso was to virtually guarantee himself the title, with an unusual engine failure for Schumacher ending his chances of an eighth title. With the gap at ten points with only Interlagos to go, Alonso needed a mere point to take his second crown, and he did so with ease.

After a season almost as brilliant as the previous one, it seemed strange that Alonso was to leave Renault after two titles. McLaren hadn't won in 2006, although the signs were there that 2007 would see a return to the team's glory. After all they had the reigning champion, and talented rookie star Lewis Hamilton.

Predictions that Alonso would blow the young Briton away would immediately prove to be false. Alonso took second in Melbourne and first in Sepang, however Hamilton was just a place behind on both occasions. Then in Bahrain Hamilton beat the Spaniard, and incredibly repeated the feat again in front of Alonso's home fans in Barcelona. Alonso returned to the top step in a dominant McLaren 1-2 in Monaco, but Hamilton's consistency meant he kept the lead over his illustrious team-mate.

Statistics

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Statistic	#	Percentage	First	Last
Number of Grand Prix	117	100%	2001	2008
Number of starts	117	100.00%	2001	2008
Number of finishes	90	76.92%	2001	2008
Number of finishes on podium	49	41.88%	2003	2007
Number of finishes in points	77	65.81%	2003	2008
Number of retirements	27	23.08%	2001	2008
Number of wins	19	16.24%	2003	2007
Number of pole positions	18	15.38%	2003	2007
Number of fastest laps	10	8.55%	2003	2007
Number of doubles (pole position & win)	11	9.40%	2003	2007
Number of triples (pole position, win & fastest lap)	3	2.56%	2006	2007

Seasons:	7 (2001, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008)
Championships:	2 (2005, 2006)
Leading:	66 times during 1030 laps in 39 Grand Prix with a total of 4882.272 Km
Points:	508 (Average per start: 4.34)
	Points per season - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - 0 55 59 133 134 109 18 2001 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Team:	Minardi European F1 (2001), Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (2003), Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (2004), Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (2005), Mild Seven Renault F1 Team (2006), Vodafone McLaren Mercedes (2007), ING Renault F1 Team (2008)
Chassis:	Minardi PS01 (2001), Renault R23 (2003), Renault R23B (2003), Renault R24 (2004), Renault R25 (2005), Renault R26 (2006), McLaren MP4-22 (2007), Renault R28 (2008)
Engine:	European V10 (2001), Renault RS23 (2003), Renault RS24 (2004), Renault RS25 (2005), Renault RS26 (2006), Mercedes FO 108T (2007), Renault RS27 (2008)